What the Tide Brings
by sgcycle
Summary: Following the events of 'Aftermath' life goes on in Bristol Cove as well as it can. One day, a strange teenage girl appears -she is from a rival pod and has come on shore looking for help. Her pod is dying, there is an introduced disease that is ravaging the mermaids. Now Ryn, Ben, and Maddie are determined to help the young mermaid and save the pod.
1. Chapter 1

**What the Tide Brought...**

 _…comes a strange, young mermaid, looking for Ryn. Following the events of 'Aftermath' Ryn has stayed away from Ben. She is living with Helen and Maddie, spending her time helping in the shop and at the research center but she is restless._

 _One day a teenage girl appears and displays the body language of mermaids-she is from another pod and she has come on shore looking for help. Her pod is dying, there is a sickness that causes lesions on the mermaids that leads to trouble breathing, infection, and eventually, death._

…

The late afternoon tide gently folded over the pebbly shore, again and again in it never-ending ebb and flow. The sea foam ticked her fins pleasantly but the young mermaid did not pause to relish in the sensations. She was here under unconventional circumstances.

She pushed herself slowly forward in the shallows, moving as a monk seal does out of deep water. After leaving the water, the young one twisted and slithered her body forward still, reaching and stretching, trying to get higher up. She had to move quickly, least she change her mind and retreat back to the sea. She knew this next part would be painful.

Her body was in the dry sand, just shy of the last of the water lines when it started. The first shock wave came and she gasped, feeling as if all the air was forced out of her lungs by a blow to the gut. The long sharp spine down her back sank into her flesh and she felt the fins along her sides drop off, one by one. She doubled over in pain, squeezing her fists so hard the claws drew blood on her palms. Her tail was contracting and she was shocked to see the whole thing slide off her in one piece, two human legs pulled from the gruesome, scaly mess her magnificent tail had now become.

A naked teenage human now lay on the sand. Allowing herself a few small, pitiful gasps of pain she eased herself upward with weak arms. With a surprising sense of dignity, the girl slowly stood on her feet. Her bony knees wobbled with the effort and her leg muscles strained to adjust to the sudden shift in weight. She lurched away from the waterline, walking with arms outstretched for balance. With every small step she seemed on the verge of falling but she pushed herself hard because she knew she had to learn to walk, and fast. She was on a mission.

Even without any clothes and despite the new legs her appearance was unconventional for a human. Firstly of course the eyes, a mesmerizing blue that seemed a shade too light and far too big for her small face. Then it was the soaked dark hair cascaded all the way down her back, filthy with salt and grime and much longer and thicker than a typical girl's. She was a lot smaller and thinner than a traditional land teenager, her tight pale skin slightly outlining ribs and collarbone. Adding to the irregular look was the slightly cut lips and healing bruise on her left cheek indicated she had recently been in a fight, and had lost.

With much stumbling she managed to reach the tree line bordering the thick forest that surrounded the small coastal town of Bristol Cove. She had accounted for learning the art of walking, what she did not account for was the tripping over a fallen log and sprawling face-first into the mud.

With a hiss of frustration she pushed herself up onto her knees. She glanced around, and then shrieked in terror. A furry, golden-colored four-legged creature with a tail and a snout was crouched right next to her, just adjacent to the log she had tripped on and seemingly staring right at her.

She hissed and backed off, as much as her clumsy legs and crouching on the ground as she could. The animal quickly leapt backwards, but not very far. It seemed to be intrigued by her.

She continued to crawl away as best as she could, even as a small part of her brain that was not panicking realized it was not attacking her. Had she known the proper human word it would have been "dog" but, as she was new to this world, it did not come. The animal cocked its head and continued to eye her, it expression gentle. But the mermaid was not convinced. She backed up against a fallen tree and glared at the creature, daring it to come forward.

And it did. The golden retriever leaned forward and sniffed her, gently tracing the abrasions and lesions on her shoulders and arms with its wet, warm nose. Her terror and instinct caused her to lash out with a hiss; the animal backed away but only a foot or so. Then it approached again, unthreateningly, this time with its muzzle down and its tail tucked.

The mermaid recognized the body language-it was remarkably similar to what her kind did when asking to permission to approach a stronger member of the pod. Exposing your throat, eyes downward and acknowledging their higher station, revering them almost.

She tried to back up further into the tree and there she sat, waiting to see what the animal would do. The dog continued to approach as it made a gently sound in its throat, like a soft whine. It was as though it was greeting her. The mermaid was more than ready to swipe at the animal and kill it with one blow but, oddly enough, because she recognized the body movement and what it meant, her hands stayed at her side. Her breathing was still erratic, especially as she felt the warm breath of the dog on her bruised knees when it sniffed her.

She did not move an inch, even when the dog raised its head and leveled its muzzle right with her face. Those golden eyes stared right at her, unflinching and friendly. The dog moved forward slowly and, oh so gently, placed its furry head on the mermaid's shoulders until its muzzle rested on her bare back. For a moment the mermaid was at a loss of how to respond. In this position the animal was exposing its neck to hers and bringing with its furry body much needed warmth. Against her better judgment, the mermaid leaned into the warm touch. She could not help it; the warm fur and slight pressure on her felt so good. As a creature of the sea she was constantly exposed to the warm, nurturing touch of the ocean but on land, well, so far nothing had touched her in such a pleasant way. She craved it, this touching of each other. The dog leaned into her, as if sensing this need for touch.

She trembled with the cold and still with a little fear. She did not speak any words out loud; she did not yet know how to speak on dry land, but somehow the animal seemed to understand her fear of it. It stepped back, gave another small whine, and licked her right cheek eagerly. The mermaid pulled away and hissed. The gesture seemed well-intended but it was a bit of an insult to her so she rubbed her face irritably.

The snapping of a twig at the top of a hummock startled both the mermaid and the dog and the two creatures glanced up. The mermaid knew she needed to move, to complete her mission.

She quickly got to her feet and then turned briefly to the dog to hiss a warning note; she did not want the creature to follow her. The humans were dangerous and the animal might be killed. It was the only thing that had shown her kindness and she was not about to be responsible for its safety.

Instead of backing off as it had done before the dog only came forward further, bumping its furry head into the mermaid's right hand gently. Out of pure instinct she gently stroked the furry head. Nothing of the kind ever happened to her in the water. She was an apex predator and not to be trifled with. But this animal was wanting to be petted and be her friend.

What could she do? Kill it?

The girl did the mermaid equivalent of a shrug and stalked off; it was no concern to her. She was on a mission to find someone and she had to do it quick. The golden retriever followed right on her heels.

Along with hikers and beach-mongers came campers to this remote part of Bristol Cove. One such campsite was not far from where the mermaid and the dog were now situated. Despite never having been on land before the mermaid knew to stay out of sight as she slowly approached. It appeared to be a group of humans, two larger and two smaller ones; the male larger one walked off deeper into the woods while the other three walked off in another direction, towards the water. There was a large colorful domed object in the middle of the clearing and it seemed to serve as a shelter of some kind; it was surrounded by strung lines of clothing.

The girl shivered in the onslaught of a cold breeze and knelt down to lean against the dog, trying to draw body warmth again. Unlike before the animal would not seem to have it. It darted forward, clasped its teeth to one of the hanging clothes and gave a gentle tug. The thick wool plaid jacket slid off easily. Trotting back over, the dog presented its purloined goods to the mermaid.

She understood and struggled with the mechanics of the material for only a second before managing to slip her arms into the sleeves and partially button the front. Instantly she felt better. The warmth generated from her body came quick. Now she wanted more.

Throwing all caution to the wind she stepped into the clearing, pulled a pair of woman's yoga pants down, and slipped them on just as quickly. She was about to take a nice woolen hat when a voice screeched out.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The mermaid hissed in fright and instantly let go of the object as if it had caught on fire. She whipped around and saw the human male staring right at her.

"Are you stealing our clothes you junkie?!"

She clutched her hands to her chest, trying to stay her pounding heart. In her fear her lips curled back and she snarled.

The camper was not intimidated at the sight of a skinny, one-hundred pound teenage girl making noises at him. His family was around and he was aware of the dangers of drug-users. His human mind quickly came to a conclusion on how to deal with this. With threats and bravado.

He raised a stick of wood in his hands; he had been gathering firewood when he came across the mermaid and was not about to let her near his family.

"Get out!" he yelled at her, brandishing his weapon. "Get away from here!"

The mermaid did not understand the words but definitely grasped his intent. She twisted and fled into the forest, the dog right at her heels.

"Mark, what's happening?" he quickly asked his wife approaching from the far side of the tent.

The assailant quickly reached over and wrapped her protectively in his left arm. "Some girl stole your jacket and pants." He quickly dropped the wood and came over to see that his daughters were alright. "We're going to have to report it when we get back into town." He glanced around. "Where's Honey?"

The woman quickly looked around too for the family pet. "She was running around earlier." Then a horrific thought occurred to her. "You don't think that girl took her?"

"Oh no," the father said under his breath. Honey was their service dog, specially trained to deal with their daughter and her physical and mental difficulties. The animal had a way with people and loved to interact in a way that helped his daughter function with the world. "If she did, Honey will come back soon." He said it, but he was not hopeful.

…

It had been a few months since the mermaid street fight, Donna's death, and Ben almost drowning chasing a phantom. Despite the passage of such time Maddie could tell Ryn still mourned for what had happened to her sister and the loss of Ben in her life. She and Helen had reassured the mermaid that things would get better but so far, well…perhaps mermaids grieve longer than humans do.

That had concerned Maddie but in the past few weeks something else had changed about the mermaid. Ryn had become increasingly restless, not able to stand still for very long, pacing and hissing frequently. Though she was learning how to read and write, helping out in Helen's shop, and at the research center, her mind was distracted. Maddie knew Ryn was impatient to see things return to 'normal', to be in the ocean, and to be with her and Ben again.

But it was still not safe.

True to her word, Ryn had not seen nor tried to contact Ben for the past few months. She stayed at Helen's house, sleeping on the couch and occasionally at Maddie's, platonically sharing the other woman's bed. And still she fretted. The two human women had come to the conclusion that Ryn needed something more; that how things were going now was not good for her.

"She needs to be engaged with something," Helen had insisted to Maddie that morning. The two of them were in Helen's apartment discussing Ryn over hot cups of tea at the kitchen table. "She's as impatient as hell."

"I know," replied Maddie. "I know."

She glanced over at Ryn. The mermaid was in the living room gazing out the window into surrounding waters of the bay, an expression of raw longing on her face.

"It's not healthy for her to be cooped up in here, not seeing anyone but you or me," Helen continued. "They're social creatures, they do not do well on their own." She eyed Maddie critically. "Have you and Ben worked out—whatever it is that you seem to be disagreeing on?"

Maddie shot Helen a look. The old mermaid/human woman could be very forthright sometimes. "No, we…still need a little time."

"But what about her?" Helen nodded towards Ryn. "Whatever is going on she's right in the middle of it."

"It's not her fault," Maddie quickly insisted. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to believe the worst of Ryn. "But it's still best that she stay away from Ben as much as possible."

Helen leaned forward. "That is not good for her you know; she needs you, the both of you." Maddie glanced up and was about to retort against that statement when Helen beat her to it. "They're communal and you two are a part of her pod now. She considers you to be one of her mates."

Maddie quickly grabbed her mug and took a long, hot sip to prevent her from having to answer that. She had long ago come to a similar conclusion but, to have someone voice it out loud… _well it's still a little weird._ Before Ryn came along Maddie had never thought of herself in that manner, to be with more than one person at a time. _Hell, I've never even been with more than one guy at a time in my entire life or considered being with a woman._ Now, she had a mermaid partially living with her that not only cared for her but Ben as well. In a manner that was more than she cared for Helen or her sister. _If she thinks of me as one of her…mates does that mean we are, something other than friends?_

Helen just smirked at the troubled thought process that she could clearly see going on in Maddie's head. "Humans are so embarrassed about these sort of things. You shouldn't be surprised, most creatures on this planet engage in similar relationships."

"But I'm not a creature!" Maddie almost snapped, her discomfort at the conversation causing her voice to be stronger than she intended. " I'm not a freakin' animal!"

"Maddie is angry?"

Both Helen and Maddie looked up and saw Ryn had approached the table, her huge blue-orbs wrought with concern.

"No Ryn, I'm fine," Maddie quickly reassured her, touching her slightly on the arm. "We were just talking about…something."

"Okay," Ryn answered, having complete faith in Maddie. It touched the human girl that the mermaid was able to take what she said and immediately trust her, not probing, not questioning, just reassured that Maddie was telling her the truth.

The mermaid spoke up again. "Ben is…better?" Ryn asked, her face still troubled.

"I don't know Ryn," Maddie replied gently. "I haven't seen him."

Ryn's forehead wrinkled, as it often did when she came to a human concept that she could not fully understand. "But Ryn is gone," she said quickly. "Ryn is not being with Ben. Now Maddie and Ben can get better together."

"It's not that simple Ryn," Maddie said, "I left Ben because he did something bad that night and—" she struggled to find the words, to make the mermaid understand when she herself almost did not "—and I cannot trust him anymore, especially around you."

Ryn's brow smoothed at the familiar word. "Trust," she repeated, as she had those months ago in the _Siren Song_ motel. "This is hard." Maddie smiled at the mermaid, recalling when she had made that revelation herself. "Trust some people, do not trust others."

Ryn stepped closer to Maddie and placed a hand on her right cheek. At one point in her life Maddie would have been shocked at the intimacy of the gesture but now, after months of having a mermaid around, she accepted and even relished it. "Ryn trust Maddie. Ryn trust Ben too," the mermaid said quietly.

Maddie expected more but nothing came. _It's as simple as that to her_ she thought. _She trusts us._

"I know Ryn, I know," she put her own hand over Ryn's. "We just need some time."

…

She was looking for someone. She was desperate to find her.

Bristol Cove had seen more than its fair share of land-bound mermaids over the past few months but luckily none of the inhabitants, save a precious few, had caught on to the consistency of the sightings. This was fortunate for the young stranger as even her odd appearance did not warrant a second glance as she came into the more populated area of town. A few strangers glanced at her unusual choice of clothing and lack of shoes but then moved on.

It was the dog who had found the town; the mermaid had been wandering the woods far longer than she had expect until finally her four-legged companion seemed to hit upon her destination and nudged her legs into a certain direction. Ultimately, it led her right to it. At the town line the dog had disappeared back into the forest, whining anxiously at the sight of the urban area. The mermaid did not try to follow; her goal was in the human world.

The young mermaid was on a mission but wandering the streets for hours had caused her hunger to grown, her steps became more erratic and her head dizzier. She rasped for breath as she tried to avoid tumbling, yet again, on a street curb. Her hiss of frustration caused a couple passing by to gaze at her in confusion. The hard glare she gave them made them keep going. She stalked off, determined not to stop until she found whom she sought.

But then she sniffed out the garbage bins behind the seafood restaurant.

She paused and glanced around, afraid she had lost the scent. Then she heard a garbage bin crash to its side in the alley. Glancing over she saw a feline furry head was buried in the effluence, snapping up a morsel or two.

At the familiar smell of fish the mermaid hurried over. _Food!_ She scared off the scrawny scavenger with a hiss and grabbed at the remains of an Alaskan cod that had been part of someone else's three-course meal, ripping into it with teeth that were much sharper and stronger than a normal human girl.

 _Food!_ After finishing the cod she shoved a greasy trout head into her mouth and chewed fast. She hadn't eaten this well in months. There was still so little to hunt.

She was ravaging the remnants of a crab's husk when the backdoor to the restaurant opened and a young kitchen hand stepped out. The human girl shrieked at the sight of the mermaid, dropping the trash bag in her hand, causing its contents to spill out.

"What the f#%$#?" she said out loud, not as a means to scare the other girl but simply reflexively.

The mermaid backed off, hissing and putting herself in a defensive stance.

"Whoa whoa calm down!" The other teenager said quickly. "I'm not going to hurt you." The small magnetic clip on her shirt read "Allison" but the tiny black letters meant nothing to the mermaid. She only knew that the human was preventing her from eating more of the fish and that made her mad. She rocked back and forth on her heels between where she was at and the trash bin, uncertain if she should risk darting forward and snatching more food.

Allison's dark eyes saw the remains of the trash bin and made a quick conclusion. "Were you just…never mind. Are you hungry?" She glanced at the other girl. To her untrained eye it appeared that the stranger was about her age and clearly homeless. This caused compassion in her heart. "Do you need help?"

The mermaid did not answer, just glared at her.

Allison slowly reached down and picked up the now-empty trash bag she had been carrying earlier. She was about to go back inside and report the vagrant to her supervisor when she thought better of it. _He'll just call the cops and chase her off. Maybe I can get her something to eat._

Allison raised her hand in a gesture of friendship. "Wait right here, I'll be back." Then she turned and disappeared back into the kitchen.

The mermaid was completely confused. She had thought the human was going to drive her away, take the food for herself even, but now it was gone? And that gesture. It was familiar. It meant compassion. She was torn between wanting to finish the remains of the trash bin and wanting to flee; her hesitation and uncertainty caused her to remain standing in the alley for a moment until the backdoor opened again.

The mermaid saw it was the same human girl as before but this time, she was carrying a plate laden with fish. Not just the skins, tails, or heads but whole fish!

"Here," Allison held out the plate. "It's just leftovers from yesterday's catch that the chef didn't want but you can have it."

The mermaid's stomach rumbled, her mouth was salivating, and her heart rate spiked at the sight of the fish. Should she trust the human? Would it attack her if she reached for the food? Something in the back of her vastly intelligent mind reasoned that the human was genuinely trying to help and wanted her to have the food.

With the carefully movement of a cornered animal, never letting her eyes stray from the human, the mermaid crept forward and snatched the plate out of Allison's hands. She backed off a few paces until she felt relatively safe. Still keeping her eyes on Allison, the mermaid grabbed at the fish and shoved chunks of flesh into her mouth. She almost spat it out because the texture threw her off; she had never had cooked fish in her entire life, but then she managed to swallow and continued to eat.

Allison was shocked to the core. Never in her 17-years of life had she seen someone eat like that. Had the teenager been more cautious the warnings of her parents regarding strangers might have crossed her mind but, right now, all she saw was another girl her age that was starving.

"Wow," she could not help but say out loud. "You really needed that."

The other girl did not answer, just kept shoveling the fish into her mouth.

Allison knelt down. The movement startled the mermaid that she hissed but Allison held her hand up. "It's okay," she quickly said. "I'm just going to clean up the mess." She started picking up the remnants of trash that had been in the spilled bag from earlier. The mermaid watched, her eyes narrowed with suspicion, before turning back to her fish.

Then her head whipped back around. When the human girl had knelt her necklace come into view as it dangled over her chest and underneath the dark curls of her hair. With a movement too swift and silent for a normal human she darted next to Allison and snatched at the mermaid-figurine.

"What the hell?!" Allison was so startled she tried to pull away but her neck was held fast. The other girl had a vice-like grip on her necklace and was not letting go.

 _Oh my God, oh my God_ she had never been this close to a homeless person before and it terrified her to no end. She could smell the grime and filth on the other girl, could see right into those amazingly-huge blue eyes, and felt the calloused hands as they brushed at her neck, examining the chain her necklace hung on.

"What? Do you want it?" Allison stammered out. She was afraid now, afraid she had made a big mistake being kind to this stranger. Now all the warnings her parents had ever told her about crazy homeless people came back to her head. _Should I scream? Call for help? What do I do?_ For now, fear paralyzed her.

The other girl made no further hostile movement, she was still examining the jeweled trinket with fascination.

"Umm…it's a mermaid. This is a mermaid. I— uh, like mermaids," Allison spluttered out. It was all she could think to say. "'The Little Mermaid' was my favorite movie when I was a kid."

The stranger looked up her, eyes squinting as if processing the words being said to her. She was amazingly close, her nose practically next to Alison's cheek.

"I got it at Helen's shop on main street," Allison further explained, not really sure why but it seemed the right thing to do, explaining the necklace further. "You know—the shop? Her place?"

The mermaid eyes lit up; there was a place with her kind in this human world? She needed to find it. But how could she get the human girl to tell her?

She pointed to the trinket in her hand, then to herself, then gestured widely with jerking hand movements. She was trying to ask where.

"Uh, sorry what?"

Hissing with frustration, the mermaid tugged hard at the necklace.

"Ow! Please that hurts!"

Immediately the mermaid stopped. She did not mean to cause the human harm; she was not here to hurt anyone but she needed to find someone…and fast.

.

Maybe it would work if she used their words? Did she know enough?

"Ttthhhiisss," she managed to get out.

"W—what?"

"Thisssss!?" she got it out while holding up the necklace.

Allison was still confused. "I got it at Helen's. Helen's. You know?" The other girl shook her head to show she did not understand. "On Main Street. Just in the middle of town."

With another hiss the girl finally let go of the necklace. Allison leaned forward rasping for breath; she hadn't realized it had been hard to breathe with the necklace pulled so taunt. The moment had been so tense when the other girl had her by the neck that she had forgotten to concentrate on her breathing. She touched her neck and winced; it was tender. No cuts but her dark skin would likely show some scratches and bruising.

The mermaid had been unaware she was pulling so tight and was sorrowful. The human had been kind, gave her food and she had hurt her. She did not yet know the human words but she wanted to show her apology. She tried to reach out and stroke the other girl's neck, to make sure she was not injured and to show empathy and sorrow by the physical contact like she would with a member of her pod but Allison jerked away.

"Leave me alone!" she said loudly. "I _helped_ you!"

The mermaid backed away, her eyes wild.

Allison got to her feet quickly, determined not to let the other girl see her eyes watering up. She did not want to appear weak but just a moment ago she had been scared for her life. _What if she had a gun or a knife?_ Her heart was still pounding. _What if she wanted to rob me?_

The mermaid also rose to her feet; she kept her hands to her side but she still wanted to touch the other girl, show her sorrow. The human was looking daggers at her so she backed up, keeping her head down.

"What? Now you're sorry?" Allison demanded, still rubbing her sore neck. "Just leave me alone!"

The mermaid glanced up. Her intense blue eyes squinting as she mulled the new words over in her head.

Allison was confounded. _Does she not speak English?_ She stared at the other girl for a second before speaking up. "Yeah, whatever." She bent and picked up the trash bag. "I have to get back to work." Still looking perplexed at the other girl she opened the backdoor and quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

The mermaid watched the door longingly for a minute and then turned away. She stumbled out of the alley, her thoughts a torrent. She had a location now and she was going to risk it. The fate of her pod depended on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

…

"Helen's Antiques" shop was always punctual in its closing and today was no exception. Helen closed the doors promptly flipped the sign from "Open" to "Close" right at 7 pm. Ryn was taking in some air and would be by later to help with inventory and restocking the shelves but for now, the older woman had the place to herself.

 _Thank goodness I had a busy day._ Customers had been few and far between and the older woman appreciated every chance she got to sell her merchandise. Now that she seemed to be supporting a mermaid lodger, funds were more essential than ever. Ryn required food, a lot of seafood in fact, and Helen was not about to be stingy. _Not with what the poor thing is going through._ She put on her reading glasses and got ready to do the Thursday evening paperwork.

The overhead bells on the door jingled signaling the appearance of a customer. Helen did not look up from her paperwork but did call out, "Sorry we're closed."

No answer. Only then did Helen glance up and what she saw chilled her to her old bones.

 _My God, it's another one!_

What seemed like a skinny teenage girl had just walked into her shop but Helen was not fooled. The girl was dressed only in an awkwardly-buttoned plaid jacket and ripped yoga pants; no shoes to be had, and certainly no shirt. Even if Helen had not seen how huge her eyes were or that they were a startling-blue/grey some preternatural instinct told her… _mermaid_!

She removed her glasses, trying to stay calm. "What do you want?" she asked, putting on a show of bravado. _The last time these things came into my shop they almost strangled me, sure as hell not going to take that chance again._ Her right hand strayed casually to the flare she kept under the cash-register counter ever since that last encounter. The light would blind and scare the creature away.

The girl had not answered her question. She just stood there at the front of the store, her head slightly cocked and her huge blue eyes looking right at Helen

Helen's fingers closed around the flare, ready to ignite it at a moment's notice. "You're not supposed to be here," she addressed the girl again. "What do you want?"

Still no answer.

 _Ryn will be back any minute._ Helen thought. _Maybe she can fight it off?_

The young mermaid still made no move towards her but seemed to be sniffing the air of the shop, her head swiveling round and round as if she was trying to hone in on a particular scent. She was smaller and skinnier even than Ryn and seemed to be hurt; there were scratches on her lips and a healing bruise on her right cheek. Had the girl been human, Helen would have guessed her to be in her mid-to late teens.

The mermaid now looked back at Helen, her expression was still rather intense. She made a step towards Helen and the older woman was about to ignite the flare when the backdoor of the shop opened.

"Helen, we found the—"

Both Maddie and Ryn walked through the backdoor. Helen was momentarily distracted and did not pull the end off of the flare. She was also even more uneasy now. She had not counted on Maddie coming and placing herself in danger. _What if there's more of them outside? What if we're ambushed?_

At the sight of the stranger both human and mermaid froze. The mermaid recovered quicker. Ryn hissed and snapped her teeth. She stepped in front of Maddie, blocking her from a direct assault by the strange mermaid. Her body posture was straight and rigid, an alpha female and she was ready for a fight if it would come to that.

 _Not my family!_ Ryn's thoughts were furious. She could smell right away that the other mermaid was a stranger, from another pod and that could mean only one thing—a challenge. Mer never stray into other's territories unless it was to engage in a battle for food, take over territory, or kill potential mates. _No one kill my family!_

Surprisingly the other female did not seem to want to fight. If anything, at the sound of Ryn's hiss, the stranger seemed to cower back a bit in fright.

Hele raised her eyebrows. _That was unexpected._ She could sense rather than guess that the stranger was not from Ryn's colony; something about the way Ryn immediately went on guard and her enlarged sense of empathy made her realize this. She came out from behind the counter, standing next to Ryn and Maddie. It felt safer to be closer to them. _Better chances in numbers I suppose._

Ryn also made a movement, but in the wrong direction, towards the stranger.

"Ryn wait!" Maddie seized her arm, gently, but enough to stop the mermaid in her tracks.

"She hurt," Ryn snarled. Maddie then looked more carefully at the stranger and noticed her beaten face and the lesions on her shoulder and neck. It was not like the skin condition that Ryn got when she was out of the water for too long; this looked worse. An inflammation with nasty redness and open wounds. _Like some sort of rash._

The girl drew nearer slowly, almost trembling with her fear. Had Maddie not known that she was a mermaid she would have been wrought with sympathy for the pitiful-looking thing. As it was, her guard could not help but be lowered by the way the mermaid looked. The girl lowered her head, eyes focused solely on the floor, and shoulders slumped. She continued to slowly move forward.

Maddie's eye widened. She recognized the posture as almost exact to how Ryn approached Donna in Helen's apartment, after the two had had their fight over Ben.

Helen was watching with eyes as wide as Maddie's. "I'll be damned. She's acknowledging Ryn's dominancy."

"What does that mean?" Maddie whispered, almost afraid to speak too loudly.

Helen nodded towards the stranger. "She's not going to fight. Just watch."

Breathlessly, Maddie forced herself to stand still and do just that.

Ryn was also observing the younger mermaid approach, but with a more critical eye. It felt odd to have one of her own kind approach with the kind of submission that she herself had been so used to giving in her past life. But she was now the 'dominant female' as Helen had once said and such behavior was expected of lower-ranking members, especially young ones. As such, she knew she had to follow strict decorum in her own behavior and not show anything but cold, calm aloofness as the lower ranking stranger approached her.

The young one made it to Ryn's front, head still bowed and eyes lowered meekly. She reached up and pushed her thick dark hair to one side of her head, exposing her long throat, before gently placing her forehead on Ryn's shoulder. To Maddie it seemed to be a display of submission; her throat was completely exposed to Ryn and she was vulnerable to an attack from the superior mermaid from another pod. It was within the alpha's power to kill her on site for daring to enter foreign territory and she knew it; she welcomed it if it gave her a chance to save her pod.

Ryn could not take it. She knew she should maintain the cold detachment of an alpha female but she could feel the young one trembling against her body. Another outcome of her spending so much time with humans seemed to be that her sense of compassion had increased dramatically. She could smell the wounds on the girl's shoulders and see the scrapes on her cheeks and lips. _They hurt her._ She knew other mermaids had done this; none but another of their kind could have made those marks. _Why? Why they hurt you?_ She was infuriated but right now she needed to make sure the younger mermaid knew she would not hurt her. Would not punish her further.

Ryn reached up and attempted to stroke the hair of the teenager but even that small movement caused the girl to startle in fright. She back up a step and bowed even further, bending from her waist and covering her face with her arms, whimpering slightly as if expecting pain.

"Is okay," Ryn spoke in a soothing voice. "You okay."

She came slowly forward, her hand stretched out. The girl glanced up at her from beneath her crossed arms, her eyes wild with fright. The moment was so tense. Maddie was torn between wanting to see what would happen and wanting to yank Ryn back and away from the strange mermaid, out of harm's way.

She never got the chance.

There was a crash and a bang as the door from the backroom swung open and someone came barreling in.

"Maddie look out!"

Of all times for Xander to be here! Maddie's idea of a worst-case scenario for this situation was confirmed when she turned and saw Xander behind her, a rifle firmly set in his arms.

"It's another one of them!" Xander angled the gun upward and pointed it directly at the skinny teenager girl that had been cowering before Ryn just a second ago.

"Xander stop!" Maddie yelled on pure instinct. Xander's rifle was angled dangerously at Ryn and the stranger.

If Maddie's yell was loud, the screech that the younger mermaid made was deafening. While shrieking and hissing defensively she backed up into a display case, knocking down several glass merchandise and knick-knacks. The clamor caused further disruption and chaos. The mermaid shot out of the shop, shoving the front door open so hard the glass cracked, and then bolted out into the middle of the street.

"No!" Ryn called out and ran after her.

"Ryn!" Maddie yelled after the mermaid, running after her. If Xander tried to call after her Maddie didn't know; she didn't wait to find out.

The strange mermaid shot straight into oncoming traffic. A sedan screeched to a stop just in the nick of time; it did not hit her but the momentum was such that the mermaid was pushed over the hood a bit. She braced her hands and pushed right back, bending the hood of the car a little with her strength. Then she ran.

Ryn tried to follow but more cars were coming and Maddie yanked her out of the street.

"Ryn! Stop!" Maddie yelled over the sound of the passing semi-truck that missed Ryn by barely an inch.

Ryn did not seem to hear her, did not even look up at Maddie. She was still looking across the street towards the disappearing figure. The girl was heading to the edge of town.

"She hurt!" she said loudly to Maddie while struggling to get out of her grip. She did not use her mermaid strength because she did not want to hurt Maddie but the situation was urgent. "She need my help."

"I know Ryn, and we'll find her," Maddie reassured her mermaid companion. "But you can't get yourself killed while doing it." She tugged at Ryn's sleeve. "Come on, we'll take my car."

As the two women bolted for Maddie's beat-up red Jeep the younger mermaid ran further and further into town. Other pedestrians shouted annoyances when she barreled right through them but she did not slow down. Not until she was far away. Not until the human monsters would not find her.

And the one she had traveled so far to find. The only one who might be able to save her pod.

Back at the shop all hell was still breaking loose. "For God's sake, you had to come in like that?!" Helen was yelling at Xander.

"I saw her walking down the street and followed her. When she ducked into your store I figured you were in danger. Come on, it was another one of those monsters; they're dangerous and you and Maddie could have been killed—"

"She was submitting! She was not here to fight and now she's probably long gone," Helen yelled right back. She shook her head with disgust. "You humans and your 'kill first, ask questions later' policy."

Xander glared angrily at her. "What the hell do you mean 'you humans'?"

Helen shook her head irritably. "Never you mind, just get out of my shop." She glared at the rifle in his arms. "And take that horrible thing with you."

Xander made a 'humph' sound then stormed out the way he came.

Meanwhile, Helen reached for her cell phone. Maddie was not going to like what she was about to do but they needed to find that young mermaid, and fast. She looked desperately thin and sick. _She had to have risked a lot to come out of the water in her condition, we need to find out why and then get her back home._ She hit speed dial and then held the receiver to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ben, it's Helen," she quickly said. "We need your help with something."

…

All she could do was run, for as long as she was running they would not kill her. She sprinted out of the human road and fled head-long and heedless though a city park, across a long empty law, and into the woods. She could not think clearly, the only fragment of thought was that the dominant female wanted her dead now.

As she ran further into the woods branches tore at her face and arms, small hills seemed like mountains, and a sinister darkness seemed to encompass her. It was as if the very forest in this wretched dry land was trying to entrap her. She stumbled over seemingly-innocent looking twigs and needles, feeling the pain of her cut feet with every step. She swiped at the branches and leaves with a wild strength but nothing she did stopped them from smacking her cheeks, making the pain worsen.

 _Get away. Get away. Human. Bad. Get away._ Her thoughts were starting to incorporate the human words and all she could use them for was the same idea: run, hide, get away from the humans.

Finally, she could go no further and collapsed onto her knees. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath in great, aching lung-fulls as she struggled to draw oxygen into her brand-new lungs. Once settled she realized her back and shoulders felt as if they were getting worse, the human clothing was rubbing against it and making the pain worse. She hurt all over, with deep scratches and bruises everywhere, but her back was most noticeable. She tore off her upper human covering, not without a loud shriek of pain, and gently traced the wounds on her shoulder as best she could. Her touch confirmed it was getting worse. Like many in her colony it had originally appeared to be nothing more than a mild irritant, making one claw at your own body. Then it would worsened, with swelling and illness, and then the pulsating pain came and eventually…

The mermaid hissed and pounded on the ground with her fist. There was nothing she could do. She tried to save her colony by approaching another colony leader and she was chased away. It was to be expected. Another thought, a bleak one this time. _Hurt bad, maybe die._

She was so exhausted. Months of starvation and sickness had weakened her to a breaking point and she dropped fully to the forest floor, curling up into as small a space as she best could. She was cold but she felt as if she did not have the strength to put the human covering back on. She knew her energy was spent and all she wanted to do was rest for a moment. Unaware of the dangers of the dropping temperatures as the sun disappeared over the horizon she decided she would get up and try to find her way back home after she rested.

Just to lie down and rest for a moment…

…

"You mean there's another one?" Ben was still finding it hard to process. After months of quiet, after Ryn had specifically told her pod members to stay away and never come back, one had showed up.

Helen glanced over at him. She had been gazing out the car window, trying to see if she could spot the wayward mermaid. "Yes, she's from another colony and she did not look well," she answered.

Ben could not help but ask. "Is that why you called me and Maddie did not?"

The older woman gave him a critical look. "Look I know you two have had your problems since the night Donna died but this is important. And we need all the help we can get." She looked out the window again. "Besides, it seems that every time one of these _things_ comes ashore chaos ensues. We need to get her back."

Ben kept an eye on the road but also on Helen. She might display a tough exterior but Ben could also see the apprehension in her eyes, the way her mouth was a set line, and how she kept looking out the window. _She's worried about this mermaid._ He heaved a sigh and had to ask the next question. "Is Ryn alright?"

Helen turned and glanced at him again. She knew it was a loaded question. "She's worried; she was trying to talk to her when Xander scared her off."

Ben nodded and put his eyes back on the road. He had suffered stoically the past few weeks since Ryn had said she would stay away, for his own sake. At first he could not bear it but then, oddly enough, slowly things began to get better. He still thought about her often enough but also thought about Maddie and how much he missed them both. Sometimes the Siren song would come into his head but then, he would think of Ryn and how kind and brave and good she was. He knew her, on a deeper level than that Decker guy ever thought he knew Donna, and he trusted her. _She did not mean to hurt me._ The song no longer haunted him, but he was still cautious around the ocean. Never letting his guard down, least he hear it and get sucked into the water again.

"Stop here," Helen's voice drew him out of his musings.

Ben quickly guided his truck into a parking lot set for a trailhead into the woods. He switched of the car lights and the dark woods seemed to envelop them.

Helen unbuckled her safety belt and reached for the flashlights she had managed to swipe out of her shop. "This feels right," she said as she climbed out of the car. "She's around here somewhere."

"How do you know?" Ben could not help but ask then, immediately, thought better of it. Helen fixed him with a raised eyebrow that clearly said " _Really_ " and then shook her head as she plunged into the forest. Ben trailed after her, berating himself for forgetting Helen's mermaid ancestry.

"You think she went back into the water?" Ben asked as they hiked along the trail, keeping their torches aimed at the foliage and looking for any signs of the wayward mermaid.

"Not in the condition she was," Helen answered. She glanced up at the receding light of the sun and shivered a little. "We need to find her before it gets too dark. In these temperatures she's likely to freeze to death."

…

Maddie was having a very hard time keeping up with Ryn's fast strides; the mermaid shot into the woods like a bolt. Maddie herself kept stumbling over rocks and fallen trees that she could not see. She had not thought to bring any source of light when they had arrived at the edge of the forest in her Jeep.

"Ryn wait!" Maddie called out.

The mermaid finally stopped and turned around, hissing a little in her frustration. "We find her!" she declared loudly to Maddie. "Now!"

"I know Ryn but we're going on a wild goose chase," Maddie wheezed a little as she clutched a stitch in her side. They had been practically running through the woods for more than an hour and it was getting dark and cold.

It was then that Ryn's eyes softened. She had not realized how much it was hurting Maddie to follow her. Her voice was less harsh now. "You go back. I look."

"No, I am not leaving you here alone," Maddie was adamant. "We'll look together but we need to figure out a way to do it." She heaved in more breath and a thought came to her. "Can you call her? Send out a sound?"

Ryn shook her head. "She will not sound back. Not my family. She is—" the mermaid paused, a very distressed expression on her face "—afraid."

Maddie saw the troubled look in Ryn's eyes. She stepped closer, her voice gentle. "Is she afraid…of you?"

Ryn's answer was unwavering. "Yes." She let out a frustrated hiss and turned away. She loved Maddie and Ben but neither one of them could understand this. It troubled her, upset her even, to know that one of the young members of her people was afraid of her. Such feelings were reserved for only the savage, fiercest members of the pod and she was not that…was she?

 _I almost kill the other,_ the thought was haunting to her. She had not thought of it for weeks, not since the death of her sister but that night, when sister was hurt, she had done something drastic. She had forced the alpha into submission. Almost beaten her to death. Something that she had never even dreamed of doing. _Is that why the young one afraid? Am I…bad?_

"Ryn?" Maddie's voice covered her thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Ryn blinked and came back. "Yes…Maddie." She turned and scanned the forest with her blue orbs. "We look, now."

…

Helen and Ben continued along the path, slowly scanning the grounds with their torches. Helen was the one who found her.

"Over here!" she called out and Ben quickly came running. Helen was in a small indent on the forest floor, surrounding by ferns and fallen trees. If she had not known where to look they would have missed the mermaid entirely.

Ben knelt next to the girl. She was curled up in a fetal position on the forest floor, her eyes closed and her limbs wound tightly against her thin body. _Is she breathing?_ He could not even tell; she did not seem to be moving. For a moment he panicked, thinking her to be dead then he saw the gradual rise and fall of her thin chest. _Thank God she's still alive._ But it did not look like for much longer.

"We have to get her out of here, get her warm," Helen said.

Ben quickly stripped off his outer jacket shell and wrapped it around the girl. She was naked from the waist up and her shoulders, upper arms, and back seemed to be covered in some sort of rash. Something oddly familiar but he would have to muse on that later. Right now she needed help.

He reached down and tried to pick her up, to carry her back to the car, but his arms and back were too surprised by the weight and he stumbled a little. She looked like a skinny, light teenager but she seemed to weigh much more.

"Come on," Helen whispered. "Hurry up!"

Ben quickly readjusted his legs and back for redistribution of greater weight. "Sorry!" he managed to get out as he strained to pick up the very heavy, skinny mermaid. He should have realized. Ryn weighed almost two-hundred pounds and yet she certainly did not look it. As he carried the sick mermaid a thought occurred to him, _That's the first time I've thought of Ryn in a while._ The concern for the mermaid and Helen's involvement seemed to drive him to a distraction and his thoughts were no longer obsessed with Ryn. _I wonder what that means._

Helen spoke up. "It's late; let's get her back to town."

Ben nodded and increased his stride on the forest floor to keep up with Helen. At the mention of town his mind inevitable wandered to the research center and then another thought occurred to him about the unconscious mermaid in his arms. _Those lesions, I think I've seen it on some of the otters and dolphins at the center._ He glanced at the girl in his arms, looking closely at one of her exposed bare shoulders. His eyes widened. _No freakin' way!_

He stopped mid-stride. "Oh no," he said out loud.

Helen also stopped, turning around with a look of concern on her face. "What? What is it?"

Ben looked up, his face aghast. "I know why she's sick." He hitched her up higher in his arms. "She needs treatment, now!"

…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

…

Maddie was fairly certain she had never torn through Main Street as quickly as she was doing now but, so long as none of her dad's co-workers saw her, she was not slowing down. She and Ryn had to get to the research center, and fast.

Her red Jeep screeched to a halt in front of the center. By the time Maddie got her belt off Ryn had dove out, dashing into the building and hissing with worry. Maddie did not hesitate to follow.

Helen's call had not exactly been descriptive, just that she had found the mermaid and that she brought her to the center. Helen had avoided any details, but she did say that the girl was not doing well.

"Helen?" Maddie called out as she and Ryn rounded the corner. "We're here, is she—?" she skidded to a stop when she saw what was in the room.

The lights were dim save for the soft glow of a long-necked lamp seated on a small table. Next to it was the stainless steel examination table usually reserved for the injured wildlife the center occasionally treated. Now it was being used for a remarkably similar purpose.

The girl was underneath a thick plaid blanket, curled up in a fetal position. She still looked so small and weak but that was not what drew Maddie's eye. With the blanket only covering her front the young mermaid's back was exposed and a series of horrible skin lesions was clearly visible. Stretching from her shoulders down to mid-back the coloring was a sickening mixture of red, yellow, and black. It was definitely not the usual skin rash that Ryn had experienced when she first came on land. It was something else. Something worse.

"No!" Ryn hissed in very obvious worry as she too took in the state of the mermaid. The crossed the room faster than Maddie would have thought physically possible and her hands went to the young one, stroking and running her fingers all over her body.

"Easy Ryn," Helen reassured her, coming over from the kitchen area. "She's stable for now." She gently placed a hand on Ryn's shoulder.

It was then Maddie noticed the mermaid on the table was set up with a saline bag, a monitor, and additional equipment. _How did all of that happen?_ Maddie's brow crinkled. _Helen does not know how to—_

"I found it!" came a familiar voice. Maddie nearly jumped out of her skin as Ben quickly rounded the corner from where the medical supplies were kept. His eyes immediately went to hers and all thought seemed to leave his mind. "Maddie?" he whispered.

"Ben?" she answered, just as astonished. "What are you—?"

"Come on, come on!" Helen interrupted. "Talk about this later."

The two humans immediately tried to snap out of their distraction. "Right," Ben quickly said as he came forward. His eyes briefly shot to Ryn standing next to the table before quickly readjusting to the sick mermaid on the table. He opened up the anti-bacterial topical he had managed to swipe from the center's medical supply closet.

Maddie came closer, looking at the ointment. "Isn't that for the seals when they get lobomycosis?"

"Yes," Ben answered as he was preparing to apply the medicine to the mermaid's lesions. "She has the same symptoms."

Ryn was not listening to the conversation her human mates were having but paying close attention to the girl on the table. At Ben's touch the injured mermaid hissed and bucked with pain, almost falling off the table. Her eyes opened but she was blinded by the pain and snapped and hissed at nothing. Ben and Maddie backed up, least they get bitten or slashed open by her nails.

"Stop!" Ryn let out a feral snarl at Ben. "You hurt her!" She looked just about ready to pounce on him in her desperation to protect the young mermaid.

"Ryn wait!" Maddie surprised everyone, including herself, by speaking up first and defending Ben. "He's just trying to help her." She gestured with an open palm to the mermaid's back. "She's hurt and she needs medicine. This is medicine." Then she looked closely at Ryn. "But it will not work if she keeps moving so please, can you hold her? We need to help her."

Ryn still looked troubled but nodded. She reached out and gripped the shoulders of the other mermaid, as gently as she could but also with a bit of strength. Leaning forward, she also placed her forehead on top of the other mermaid's head, whispering something incoherent. Both humans recognized the gesture of intimacy.

Ben came forward slowly. "Okay, let's try this again."

Once again he applied the ointment and once again the young mermaid jerked with the pain but Ryn held her steady so that she did not buck nearly as hard as she had. When Ben moved to her shoulders the girl shrieked in pain at the touch.

"It's alright, it's alright," Ben kept saying. "I'm almost done."

Ryn held on and continued to murmur comforting noises to the young mermaid. The girl's cries quieted and trailed off into soft whimpers.

"Okay," Ben finally said. "All done."

He moved away but Ryn continued to hold the other mermaid's hands, softly whispering to her.

Maddie glanced at the IV bag hung next to the table, noting the medicine brand. "That was a good idea."

"Yes. It's been effective for the seals when they get lobo so I thought it would work with her."

Helen, who had been hanging back and keeping out of the way as much as possible, came forward. "We still have to move her, back to my place" she commented. "The center will be opening in a few hours and I doubt either one of you can explain the both of them here to the other employees." She jerked her head to Ryn and the other mermaid. "When we're done here, maybe then you two can talk."

Ben and Maddie glanced at each other; it was the first time they had actually thought about the fact that they were both here and talking, not arguing and not distracted by Ryn.

"Yeah," Maddie said quietly, "We will, later."

…

"Ryn, Ryn wake up."

Ryn jerked her head up and hissed, certain there was danger and Maddie was trying to warn her. _Must protect. Must protect_.

Maddie was leaning over her, gently touching her shoulder. "No it's okay, it's okay. I just wanted to wake you."

Ryn blinked, looking confused for a second before her huge blue eyes focused and she remembered. She was at Helen's, watching over the young mermaid. She was seated on top of the bed, her hand was over the young mermaid's head and she had been determined to stand guard all night but must have fallen asleep at some point, her head resting on the backboard of Helen's bed.

Maddie looked at the girl in Ryn's lap. She was dressed in a t-shirt of Ben's, too large for her thin frame but it was soft and comfortable. She was still sleeping but her posture seemed more relaxed than it had a few hours ago, when they had first brought her to the center. It was not the early morning and she had come in to check on the girl but saw that Ryn had fallen asleep and knew her mermaid friend would not want to be unaware.

Ryn leaned over and stroked the girl's cheek. "Still too warm," Ryn hissed. "Burning."

"Yeah," Maddie whispered so as not to disturb the sleeping girl. "She still has a fever but the medicine should help her."

Ryn looked up, her face quizzical. "Fever? What is 'fever'?"

Once again, Maddie found herself searching for the words to explain. "Uh, fever..." Maddie pondered for a moment, then settled on an easy enough explanation. "Something bad is inside of her so her body is trying to burn it out."

Ryn's eyes flashed angrily. "Who put the bad things in body?"

"No, no one put the bad things inside of her," Maddie quickly countered. "They are just—" _Or did they?_ A sickening thought came to her. _They wouldn't do that-resort to such things as this._ She glanced at the girl in Ryn's lap. She was so young, so sick. If Ben had not treated her she would have died. _They would not have resorted to this._

"Maddie?" Ryn's voice was concerned. "What wrong?"

Maddie meet Ryn's eyes. "I'm not sure Ryn." She looked again at the mermaid in the bed. "I'm not sure." She touched Ryn's shoulder lightly, trying to convey comfort. "I'll go get you some food." She knew that it would be pointless to suggest that Ryn take a break from watching over the young mermaid so she might as well make sure she was fed.

Meanwhile, Helen and Ben were preparing a quick breakfast in her kitchen.

"She's not staying here you know," Helen was saying rather callously while pouring hot water into mugsfor tea. "I've already got my hands full with one mermaid sleeping on my couch."

"I know," Ben answered as she studied his toast, not really thinking about it at all. "We'll figure something out."

Maddie rounded the corner and came into the kitchen. Both heads glanced up and Ben spoke first. "How is she? Is she responding to the medication?"

"Yes," Maddie replied. "She's better. Still asleep, but better." She came over to the counter, staring at it but seemingly not seeing it. She tried to think of something to say to distract her and Ben from talking, specifically talking about each other. "I'm uh…I'm going to go to the center and prepare some of the fish shakes for her. She looks like she hasn't had a decent meal in weeks. "

"Yeah," Ben answered but distractedly, since Maddie was now in the room. "Yeah that's a good idea."

The silence that followed his statement was uncomfortable; they both were aware of the 'elephant in the room' but neither one wanted to bring it up.

"Right," Helen murmured as she picked up her tea. "I think I'll go check on the shop. You two stay here; make sure that thing does not tear up my house when it wakes up." She strode out of the kitchen and through her front door.

Ben looked over at Maddie. She was not meeting his eye.

"Maddie, I'm sorry."

She glanced up but did not say anything.

"I did not act right. I was not thinking clearly. I put you and your dad in danger that night and…I should never had done that." He took a deep breath. "Ryn said that she did not know her song would do that to me, but no matter what anyone thinks—I control my own fate. I will not end up like Decker."

Maddie cringed, remembering the ill-fated mermaid-obsessed military scientist. Sighing, she finally decided to speak freely. "I just...I still don't feel like I can trust you around Ryn."

"I know," Ben came closer. "I know." He looked into Maddie's eyes, the woman he loved. "And I will earn that trust again, even if it takes me forever." He gently touched her cheek. "I love you Maddie. Like Ryn says, you are love."

Maddie could not help the tears in her eyes as she gently touched his hand over her own cheek. "I know."

Just as they were making strides a crash resounded from Helen's bedroom. Both Ben and Maddie jerked their heads around, fearful of what the sound meant and completely distracted out of their communication. They quickly rounded the corner to the bedroom door.

The young mermaid had stirred underneath Ryn's hands and woken very softly but the second her eyes focused and she realized where she was the girl sat up, hissing in fear and her breath coming out in gasps as she took in the sight of Ryn. She used her arms to scoot as far away from the other mermaid as possible before her back hit the head board of the bed and there she sat, cowering.

"Is okay," Ryn tried again. She had stepped off of the bed so as not to frighten the stranger. "I no hurt you."

The girl continued to stare at her with wide eyes, breathing very hard and clearly very afraid.

Ryn held up her hands, similar to how Ben had the second time she had ever seen him. At the center, when she was terrified of him, and he was trying to help her. "No hurt you," she said again, her voice soft and reassuring.

"Ryn!" Maddie and Ben burst through the bedroom door, causing the young mermaid to jump out of the bed and scramble to the far corner of the room. She hissed and snapped, but everyone could see they were the actions of fear not aggression.

Ryn turned to Ben and Maddie. "Please," she pleaded while gesturing towards the door. She wanted them to stay back. The both of them back away, not enough to leave the room but enough to reassure the mermaid.

Ryn approached the girl slowly. "Not be afraid," she whispered. To Maddie and Ben her voice carried a note of desperation they had not heard before; it was as if she was begging the other mermaid to not fear her.

The teenager bowed her head again, her eyes lowered submissively and she stood rocking back and forth on her heels. Her movements were erratic, scared, as if she was trying to figure out where to flee.

Ryn saw the movement and could not bear it. "No," she said gently, moving forward. The young one cringed and tried to back up but she was already wedged into the bedroom corner. Ryn walked right up to her and reached out, gently touching her cheek and tilting her head upward so that their huge blue eyes were looking at each other. The teenager was trembling beneath her hand.

"No, no afraid of me," Ryn whispered. They she leaned forward and placed her neck next to the young ones, gently applying pressure. To Maddie and Ben the gesture might have been mistaken for a human hug from a distance but her arms did not come up, her hands were pressed into the other mermaid's gently.

Ben and Maddie could see over Ryn's shoulder that the teenager looked shocked but then, to everyone's relief, the moment of tension was subdued when she also leaned forward as well. The two mermaids stayed for a moment, wrapped in each other's armless embrace before Ryn gently leaned back. She looked down at the other mermaid and the girl finally met her eyes. She did not flinch this time.

"Ryn?" Ben spoke up. "Is everything okay?"

Ryn turned around, her hand still on the other mermaid's hands. "Yes, okay."

Ten minutes later the teenager was sitting at the kitchen table with her blistered, cut up feet in a warm bowl of water, wrapped in a snug blanket, and slurping down her second helping of a fish shake. Maddie was watching her with something akin to amazement as Ryn helped the girl hold up the large glass and drink her meal. It seemed odd to her that the other mermaid had been terrified of Ryn only a little while ago and now, she was freely allowing her to be assisted by the alpha female from a rival pod. _Maybe they think of each other differently; immediately are able to move on._ Her strained conversation with Ben this morning came to mind.

The young mermaid finished her shake and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Ryn gently took the cup away and touched the girl's hair, stroking gently. The young one looked up at her, still looking somewhat surprised, but at least she did not pull away or cower in fright.

Maddie came forward to take the glass. The young mermaid glanced up at her with her fathomless blue eyes; she did not seem afraid but curious. Maddie smiled down at her. "Better?" she directed the question to the mermaid, but was not expecting an answer.

"Yes. Thaaaaankkk…youoooo," the young mermaid said slowly and carefully, enunciating each vowel. Her voice had a similar accent to Ryn's but more high-pitched, evidence of her youth.

Maddie was surprised. "Um…you're welcome," she answered as best she could. _She already is learning how to talk?_

As if knowing her thoughts Ryn spoke up. "She learn," the mermaid said quietly. "She learn by listening to us."

 _Should have realized,_ Maddie thought. _It only took Ryn a day to learn how to speak English._

Ben came into the room; he had gone downstairs to reassure Helen that the crash up in her bedroom was not serious and that everything was fine. The young mermaid was awake and coherent, not violent but had simply been afraid.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked as he shyly stayed back. He was well aware of Ryn's presence now, well aware that she was breaking her promise to stay away from him by simply being her but her entire attention seemed focused on the girl they had rescued. While Maddie and Ryn felt like the mermaid was their charge, Ben found himself feeling like he didn't belong. That his presence was causing friction to an already intense situation.

It was Ryn who answered. "Yes, okay."

"Okay," he shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying hard not to look at Ryn. Admittedly he had been too distracted by the presence of the second mermaid and her dire condition to think much about it but now...well, it was getting to be that his mind was now on Ryn and how he had not seen her in months. How he had dreamed of her, how he had missed her and Maddie so much, how he had—

 _Stop! Stop that right now_ ,

Directing his gaze to Maddie he spoke up. "I'm going back to the research center," he finally found a reasonable excuse to leave.

Much to his surprise Maddie walked over and pulled him aside so that the two put some distance between the two mermaids seated at the kitchen table. "Did you take a sample of her lesions last night?"

Ben frowned. It seemed an odd question. "Yes, I used it to confirm the infection. Why?"

Maddie nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Ryn and the stranger. The older mermaid was still fussing over the younger one, stroking her hair and touching her cheek, making sure she was alright. She made an odd cooing noise, one that Maddie had only heard when Ryn had been with Donna. _She's wants to help her._

And that is what they would all do. "Ben, I think we need to find out how she got sick."

Ben cocked his head listening harder. Maddie continued. "We both know that those kind of lesions should not be that severe; something is in the water that made her sick and it's a miracle she survived long enough to get here."

Ben nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. It was an unspoken agreement that they not tell Ryn about this, not yet anyway. "I'll see what I can find out."

Ryn glanced up. Her mates were conversing in hushed tones that seemed to indicate that they wanted their human words to not be heard; of course she could hear them, her hearing was innumerous times better than humans but she chose to stay out of it. _Ben is better._ She knew that Maddie talking to Ben was a good thing and she was not about to jeopardize it by coming into the conversation.

As Ben exited the apartment, Maddie came back over to the table. The teenager glanced a little apprehensively at her, leaning into Ryn as if seeking protection.

"It's okay," Maddie said quickly. She was still not certain how much the mermaid understood her but it was instinctual to reassure her.

Ryn gave Maddie a small reassuring nod to ease her mind. "She knows you are not bad, not like others."

Maddie was glad to hear this but curiosity was burning inside her. Now that there was another mermaid, and one that decidedly was not trying to kill or maim them, her marine biologist mind was stretching itself. Wanting to probe for answers to questions.

 _Would that be rude?_ She settled on an easy enough inquire. "Do you two now each other from…the water?"

Ryn shook her head. "No. We do not see others. Young ones stay away from strange big ones, too dangerous."

"Young ones? You mean children?" Maddie should not have been surprised but she was. The thought of how mermaids sustain their populations had never occurred to her. Ryn's kind did not seem to be affectionate creatures but she had never seen nor heard of their family systems and perhaps there was a lot of love that went into such protection. She had assumed the followed a primal instinct to reproduce, similar to other aquatic mammals, and that was it.

"Young ones are most important to colony," Ryn continued as she stroked the hair of the other mermaid. "Make sure they get food, make sure they are protected."

The teenager leaned into the touch, her eyes half-closed. Maddie heard the same cooing noise Ryn had been making earlier and assumed it was some form of expression of comfort. Small chirping and cooing noises left the other mermaid's mouth, and Maddie came to understand that these were also soft sounds of affection. When Ryn stopped stroking the teenager stood up carefully, still clutching the blanket around her, and wandered off from the table. Maddie made as if to follow her but then sank back into the kitchen chair when Ryn did not. Perhaps she just wanted to explore.

While the other girl was wondering the apartment Maddie asked another question. "I guess you guys talk when you make those sounds to each other?"

Ryn shook her head. "No, is not the same as you talk."

Maddie was confused. "You don't talk with each other?"

Ryn tilted her head. "Yes and no. We sing for many things. To help, to hurt, to warn but not with—" she scrunched her eyes trying to come up with the explanation—"words."

"Oh," Maddie seemed to understand. "You do not use actual words like humans do."

"Yes," Ryn nodded, watching her mate's face carefully. "We _feel_ each other."

"Feel?"

Before Ryn could elaborate a _thump!_ came from the living room. The teenager had knocked over a pile of magazines that slide from Helen's coffee table to the floor.

As Ryn scooped down to pick up the mess the teenager had seated herself on the couch, still wrapped in the blanket but had now discovered Helen's _Frozen_ book and was leafing through the pages with interest. Apparently she had pulled the book from underneath the stack of magazines and that was what caused them to fall. She kept fingering the Disney film illustrations, as if amazed at the coloring and print.

"You like that?" Maddie asked.

The mermaid glanced up, her eyes quizzical. Maddie found herself slightly tongue-tied with awe; the teenager could have been any other young high-schooler in Bristol Cove except for those eyes. Those eyes that bore right into your soul.

The mermaid seemed oblivious to Maddie's discomfort. She pointed to the illustration of the sisters Elsa and Anna, her expression one of a question.

"Um—it's a story about two girls, sisters actually, and they uh—" Maddie stopped, uncertain. Was she answering a question or just rambling because of her nervousness? "They help each other out."

"Sissttterss?" The mermaid asked.

"Yes, sisters." Maddie replied. She leaned forward and placed a finger on top of the illustration of the famous ice queen. "Elsa—" her hand shifted a little to the familiar red-head—"and Anna."

The girl also lifted her index finger. "Elsa," she said as she pointed, "Anna" as her finger shifted. "Aaannna." She repeated.

"Yeah," Maddie made a bold move and sat on the couch next to the girl. "Anna is the younger sister and Elsa is the older one. Elsa has magic ice powers and Anna helps her sister learn to control them."

"Help. Anna helps," the mermaid said in her melodic voice with the thick accent Maddie was used to hearing from Ryn by now. "I help." She glanced over at Maddie and then back to Ryn, standing next to her. Some sort of clarity was in her huge eyes. "I Anna."

Ryn didn't reply but only nodded. Maddie needed further explanation. "What? Is her name Anna?"

"Yes," Ryn confirmed. "She wants 'Anna'."

She leaned forward and helped the young one out of the couch. "Come," she said to both. "Anna need more medicine."

…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ben was rather fortunate that the Bristol Cove research center was well-equipped for the task at hand. Maddie had asked him to look into the lepto that was infecting the new comer and Ben's scientific mind was wrapped into the mission. It felt good to be doing general research again; he had been so caught up with thoughts about Ryn and Maddie. Seeing them all together for the first time in months…well it was distracting to say the least.

Adjusting the microscope where the samples from the new mermaid were inset, he peered quizzically at the view. There had been plenty of scales left on the viewing table after the young mermaid had been taken to Helen's that he had not trouble finding a sample. But even he admitted there was something off about the sample. It did not look like a typical lepto. He had lost count of the times he had pulled a skin sample from one of the sick sea lions or even dolphins that ended up at the center. Typically the infection was caused by a bacteria that incorporated itself into the marine animals' skin but this one looked—bigger, worse, enhanced somehow.

 _Where the hell did this come from?_ He jotted down a few notes and then slid another sample under the scope, comparing the skin sample from the sick mermaid to an older one of their sea lions.

As he studied the scope his mind inevitably wandered with the quiet of the office. Jerry had come in earlier to feed the lion but then quickly departed, undoubtedly off to some party of other. As he continued to jot down notes Ben could not help but think about how Ryn had barely spoken to him, barely looked at him since they had been caught up in this sick mermaid business. _Is she ashamed of me? Angry?_ He would not blame her one bit if that were true. She was staying away from him for his own safety, and she was clearly unhappy about the situation.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. _Now is not the time,_ he berated himself. _We have a sick mermaid on our hands and she needs help._ His scientific mind focused once again.

It was the late afternoon before his research was interrupted.

"Ben, are you here?" Someone called out.

Ben looked up from the scope. "Back here!" he recognized Maddie's voice. No doubt she wanted an update. He quickly pulled his notebook closer and was prepared to fill her in when the sight of Ryn and the new mermaid stopped him short. All three women had rounded the corner but his eyes fell on the older mermaid first. He quickly looked down at his notebook, avoiding her eyes. _She is angry at me so it's best I stay away._

When he looked up he instead focused on their guest. She was looking a little better now; she was clearly dressed in some hand-me-downs of Maddie's: a flimsy tank and some jean shorts but still no shoes. Where the rash had been worse, with infection and bleeding, she now had a fresh bandage and she looked as if she had some food in her now. Her inhumanely large eyes looked right back at him, unflinching.

"You, Ben," the new mermaid said unexpectedly. "I am Anna." She spoke with a similar husky accent to Ryn's but lighter, more of a child's tone.

Maddie smiled awkwardly. "She's already picked a name."

"And she seems to be picking up the language too," Ben could not help but comment. He should not be surprised, mermaids were fast learners.

Maddie nodded. "She's been watching 'Sesame Street' all day." She smiled proudly. "And Ryn was also a big help."

"Help."

Everyone glanced over at Anna. The teenager's head had jerked upward at the word, as if she recognized it suddenly.

"Need…help," she spoke up again. Her right hand came up to her left shoulder, fingering the bandage Maddie had placed.

Maddie moved forward, thinking she meant to remove the article. "No, no you need to keep that on." She reached over to touch the girl's hand.

The teenager hissed and stepped back a little. She was still wary of the touch of humans.

Maddie quickly stepped back and raised her hand. "It's okay, it's okay." She was not offended. After all, it took Ryn sometime before she would allow herself to be touched by either Ben or her.

Ryn moved forward and placed a reassuring hand on top of the other mermaid's shoulder, calming her with a touch and some gently cooing noises.

"We help you," Ryn said to her fellow mermaid. "Help you now."

"No," Anna shook her head. She let out a frustrated-sounding hiss; similar to how Ryn sounded when she was trying to convey a thought but did not yet have the words. "No need help, need help…wwwaaater."

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked. "Are there others who need help?"

Anna's huge blue orbs lit up. "Yes!" She nodded her head rapidly at comprehending a new word. "Others! Others need help."

Comprehension dawned on all three at once. Ben was the one who voiced it out loud. "Are the others sick too?" When he got a confused looked from Anna he tried again. Gesturing towards her bandaged shoulders he asked, "Are the other's—like this? Are the others sick and hurt?"

"Yes."

Maddie quickly looked at Ben. They both were thinking the same thought as to who was to blame for this. _The military is trying to drive them out again._

Ryn however seemed more concerned about the safety of her pod rather than the cause of it. "How many?" she asked Anna.

"Many," came the stead-fast reply. The younger mermaid raised her eyes to Ryn, pleading. "Come help? Ryn come help?"

"I…" Ryn stammered a little. She glanced at Ben and Maddie, conflict clear on her face. She was a banished mermaid; forbidden to come back to the water because of her attachment to the humans. Not only that, it was inconceivable that she would help a strange pod; it negated the laws of survival for their kind. "I—cannot."

The devastating look that came upon Anna's face was heartbreaking. "But—I come to you! You say they help!" She gestured wildly to Ben and Maddie. "You say! In water! You say!"

Ben and Maddie glanced at each other. It was clear the young mermaid was referring a time when Ryn had advocated for the humans, had spoken up for them when the other mermaids all were of the opinion that humans were nothing but bad. Ryn was different than most mermaids; she had spent time with humans, had come to trust and even love them. The majority of the others, including this young one, did not seem to share her sentiment.

Anna was still pleading with Ryn. "I come…hhheeeere." She gestured to the lab but was she really gesturing to dry land in general? "I come, need help."

Ryn looked heart-broken. "I cannot go back. I am—" she struggled a minute to find the words "—too close to humans, this is why." She narrowed her eyes a little, she said with a little heat. "Not my family, your family. Not my kind."

"Ryn?" The mermaid glanced over at Ben; his expression was curious. "She is not from you…pod?"

Ryn shook her head. "We do not help others; fight, kill, not help." She glanced back at the young one. _Why I help you?_ She was beginning to question her decision now. Something had made her want to help the young mermaid but now, she was being asked to help a rival colony. One that might one day threaten her own. _No no help._ It was against everything it meant to be a strong leader to help a rival—and yet, something in her wanted to.

Anna hissed, but it sounded more sad and frustrated than angry. She then turned and looked unexpectedly at Ben and Maddie.

She came forward, looked right up at them. "You—you help Ryn. You help me. Help others?"

Ben and Maddie both gazed at the young mermaid, their hearts going out to her. Her eyes were pleading, how could anyone refuse her outright?

Maddie finally spoke up. "We will try." She looked at Ryn, fully expecting an angry retort since she had just said they would help a rival pod.

But oddly enough, Ryn's face was neutral.

Anna squinted her eyes, clearly confused. "Tryyyy?" She clearly did not know this word.

 _Oh boy_ , Maddie thought. Trying to explain something like that was going to be tricky. She was about to begin when Ben beat her to it.

"It means we will help you as best we can," he said firmly. "We will help."

Anna pulled her lips back and made a more-content hissing noise than before. _Was this a mermaid's version of a smile_? Maddie wondered at the expression. Ryn never smiled, never laughed. It was not that she was ill-tempered all of the time but she never displayed other human-emotions. This younger one seemed to be trying to smile.

Later, the three of them made their way back to town. They reasoned no more could be done at the lab and Ryn needed to take Anna to the ocean, get her back in the water before she got sick with the land dryness that came with mermaids spending too much time onshore. With her current condition it was probably best to avoid getting sicker by simply being on land.

As they walked along Anna gazed across the street and saw a group of humans clustered together. They all seemed to be wearing similar assortments of clothing with the same colors and cut, blue with white. They were chatting loudly and shouting gaily. About what, she did not know but she stared curiously.

Then her huge eyes widened further. She recognized a face.

 _The one who help me!_

Allison from the seafood restaurant was amongst the group of teenagers, celebrating a whopping 17-3 football victory for the Whalers. The entirety of Bristol Cove's high-schoolers would be out celebrating this evening and far into the night.

Allison did not look across the street, her attention was on where the party was going to, but the mermaid's eyes followed her. She was more aware of human behavior now, had more of their language down, and she wanted to properly express her sorrow at hurting and scaring the human.

Ryn had been right, she knew that now. _Not all humans bad._ Unlike most of her kin, Anna had now had a few good experiences with humans and was more than willing to learn and experience more. She was a very young mermaid after all, and she was more curious about this human world than wary.

While Ben, Maddie, and Ryn were in deep conversation she stepped off the curb and quickly started to follow the group of teenagers.

No one in the trio noticed for now.

"Can we get Xander to check the waters for us?" Maddie was asking.

Ryn frowned. She did not trust, nor even like the human male after all he had put the young one through. He had threatened Anna with a gun after all. "No," she said firmly. "I go."

Maddie grimaced. "Ryn, it's a very long way. It might be dangerous for you to be out, so near to a strange colony."

"I know," Ryn said. "But…need help." There was no point in denying it anymore, it was clear now how she felt; she wanted to help the other mer. "I will not—" she struggled for a minute, Ben and Maddie waited patiently for her to find the right word "—leave, alone…not—"

"Abandon?" Ben asked, his own voice carrying a little hint of sadness.

Ryn looked at him, her eyes sad. "Yes." She reached over and stroked his arm. "I will not abandon." Then, she reached her other hand over and started stroking Maddie's arm as well. She looked into both of their eyes, her message was clear. She would not abandon her people nor would she abandon them.

"I am sorry Ben," she finally said.

This startled him; it seemed out of place. "What? For what Ryn?"

The mermaid was distressed, but Ben could not figure out about what. Not for the first time he wished he had a better understanding of mermaid language and behavior.

"I try to stay away," Ryn's head tilted up so that she could look into Ben's eyes. "I cannot."

"You're not hurting me Ryn, why do you think that?"

"Ryn and Ben…too much time together." Ryn struggled through the words, trying to find a way to convey her meaning. "I know it hurt Ben's head."

"Ryn…"

"Not right."

"No. It's alright Ryn," Ben placed his arm on hers, his hand massaging soothing circles into her shoulder. "My head is getting better and you being here, it is actually helping me."

"Ben not…sick anymore?" Ryn watched Ben in muted disbelief.

"I am—better Ryn," Ben was fully telling the truth. He still found himself staring at her at times but he did not have the song pounding in his head when he saw Ryn, he did not have the same visions of her as before. Somehow, the mission of helping the young strange mermaid had aided his own consciousness. It brought back the old him, wanting to save and help the creatures of the sea, no matter what they may be. "And I want to help you and your people."

Ryn's hand gentled reached up and touched the side of his cheek, fingering the ever-present stubble. "I am glad you help." She turned to Maddie who had been silent as she watched the exchange, smiling in relief at the progress that was being made in front of her eyes. "Ben and Maddie."

The trio stood silently for a moment, acknowledging the unique bond that was now being fortified between them when Maddie suddenly asked, "Where is Anna?"

Ryn whipped around, scanning the nearest vicinity and her inhumane eyes widen in shock. "No!"

She started to pace, scanning the town and hissing rapidly as if in a panic.

"Ryn!" Maddie quickly grabbed her arm. "Calm down, we will find her!"

…

The party at the 'Siren Song' motel was in full swing when Anna crashed it. She had followed the group of teenagers, but then momentarily lost them when they all got into one of the moving-wheeled vessels. Running as fast as she could she caught up with them at the motel and managed to slip into the area, blending into the crowd of teenagers quite well. Her ratty clothes and lack of shoes did not seem to out-of-place, even here.

There was a table set up with draping plastic checkered covers, and spread with an array of alcohol. Red buckets held more bottled of chilled beer bottles; beads of moisture covering their gleaming sides. The noise was terrific: chatting teens, pulsating music, and the occasional shrill of laughter from one of the girls.

She scanned the crowds, avoiding the gyrating bodies of teens dancing to some music, which was terrible but enthusiastic. Then, she spotted her prey. The other teenager was engaged in a conversation with a male.

"Come on Brian," Allison was saying. "You know you hog the spotlight, you're so full of yourself!"

The good-looking running back shrugged his broad shoulders, flicking his hands upward. "What can I say, the cameras love me!" He wondered off, clearly looking for more worshiping girls to hang out with.

Allison rolled her eyes and took another sip of beer. She did not know what half the school saw in this big idiot but, as a reporter for the school newspaper, it was her duty to get a statement from the main scorer for the game. She was still sipping her illicit drink, trying hard not to cringe at the nastiness of it, when she caught sight of a familiar face coming towards her. Fast.

"You!" Allison stiffened as soon as she recognized the girl who had almost attacked her. "What are you doing here?"

The other teen just walked right up and looked at her, with those huge piercing blue eyes.

Allison was stiff with suspicion and a not-a little bit of fear. "What do you want?"

There was still no answer but at least the strange girl was not attacking as she did last time. Allison was tempted to call Brian back over for protection when someone else beat her to it.

"Hey Ally!"

Allison could have kissed the school's quarterback Tyrell for coming over and standing next to her. Normally she avoided the pompous jerk like the plague but he would provide some backup with his muscles, should the girl prove dangerous again.

"Man did you see that last score, I was so fly!" he said enthusiastically, not noticing Allison's response at all. He glanced over at the mermaid, his dark eyes taking in her fine figure and somewhat-ragged appearance. "So who's your friend?" Tyrell asked.

Allison was about to declare loudly that this girl was absolutely _not_ her friend when the stranger spoke up. "I am Anna." She said it in an odd accent and with some difficulty, as if English was not her first language.

 _Is she foreign? Is that why she was acting so weird earlier?_ Allison thought. _Was she just…lost or something?_

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Anna," Tyrell stuck out his hand and did his signature 'I am the best-looking guy in our school' flick of his hair. "And I must say you are looking—" he glanced at her dirty flimsy tank and old denim shorts"— _lovely_ today."

Anna stared at the hand in front of her, not making a move to take it. Allison smirked. This was probably the first time any girl had ever rejected a clear advancement from Tyrell; and it made her like the stranger a bit.

Tyrell nodded and lowered his hand with an awkward laugh, clearly trying to cover up the fact he had been shunned. "So—you must be an exchange student. I bet that's rough, learning how to speak English and all."

Allison fought the urge to gag. The guy was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole and she was more and ready to watch. The spoiled brat of a quarterback who had girls worshiping the very ground he walked on would not know what rough was. What was rough was being a scholarship student, like Allison, at a preppy high school like Bristol Cove High. What was rough was having to work double shifts at a seafood restaurant and still be a part of three committees and do the school newspaper.

But her heart went out to the foreign teen, still standing there looking at Tyrell curiously and with a little shock. He kept peppering her with questions about what country she was from, did she like the good ole' US of A and more annoying things. She tried to get the guy to back off a bit. "Ty, don't you have to find your girlfriend somewhere?"

He nodded. "Yeah she'll want to be featured in the article too. I mean, it's not every day we kick those guy's asses." He looked at the foreign girl as if expected some big reaction. When she simply stared at him, he said, "I'll see you around then Anna." He jerked his chin at her, did a twitch of his eyebrows, swaying his shoulders and moved a bit closer to her in a suggestive kind of way.

Allison gave the girl 100% credit for backing up and glaring contemptuously at the pompous jerk. She pulled her lip back, almost as if she were going to hiss at him?

"Nice try genius," Allison said to break the awkward moment. "I don't think she's into you."

The jock glanced quizzically at the two girls then stalked off, clearly not in a good mood.

The other girl simply stood there, staring after him. Allison felt the need to say something. "You do realize you just brushed off the most eligible-piece-of-ass in the whole school right?"

The teen turned towards her and Allison was once again startled by how big those eyes were and how intense her stare was. "Ass?"

"Yeah," Allison said. "An ass." It then occurred to her that she should not be teaching someone who was just learning to speak English bad words. _Probably give us Americans even more of a rep than we already have._ She tried to have a normal conversation.

"So, um…I guess you didn't know how to speak English…before huh?"

"Yes, I learn," Anna said firmly.

"Okay," Allison said. "Then, I guess you're not from here?" She was still somewhat hoping for an explanation as to why the other girl had acted so weird when they first meet but, now that she knew that the girl was a foreigner, would not likely get it.

"No," Anna replied. Then her expression was sorrowful. "I am…sorry."

"Um, you're sorry for not being from around here?" Allison was confused.

Anna shook her head. "I am sorry I…hurt you." She gestured towards her own unusually long throat then towards Allison's. "I was…afraid, hungry. You help. Then I hurt. I am sorry."

Allison was so startled she did not know what to say for a moment. She had never been good at holding grudges. When she was a kid if she argued with a friend or one of her sisters, she would swear never to speak to them again, but that usually only lasted an hour. Maybe less.

Her gentle heart gave into itself. "Hey, it's okay." She shrugged, trying to cover her faux pas of being slightly intimidated by the strange body language of this foreign girl with the greater faux pas of too much talk. "You—you didn't really hurt my, just kind of scared me more than anything." She took a sip of her beer. "I just was scared because I thought you were cray but—you seem alright now." _Maybe she was off her meds or scared for being in a new country, glad she is acting better._ She saw that the other teenager looked worlds better than she had in that alley; like she had had a few decent meals and some better clothes. The bandage was noticeable however.

She was about to ask about it, then thought better. _We just met and she probably got hurt when she had one of her 'sodes. She probably does not want to talk about it._

Instead, she asked, "Do you want a drink?"

The other girl looked at the cup in Allison's had curiously. "Yes."

Allison smiled and led her to the drink table. "The beer is crap but it might interest you to try a true American stable."

Anna wrinkled her brow. "Beer?" She did not know the word but she tried to piece the information together. "Beer is drink?"

"Yep," Allison said as she had the keg tender pour a cup for Anna. No one cared that they were clearly under-aged, so long as they did not get roaring drunk or cause a scene. And the beer was only a light Bud. "Like I said, a true American stable." She handed the red cup to Anna then raised her glass to tap the other girl's beverage in a small cheer. Anna cocked her head and quickly followed suit by slamming her own glass into Allison's a bit hard, so that some of the liquid splashed out.

 _Wow, she's strong,_ Allison thought. Then she was shocked further; Anna had tilted her head and was downing the whole cup in only a few seconds. Both Allison and the keg tender could only stare until Anna straightened her head, her drink completely gone. She did not look like the taste or the carbonation bothered her at all.

The keg tender shrugged and gently took Anna's cup to refill it. "Maybe the little lady needs something strong?"

Allison quickly spoke up. "No thanks!" She did not want to think what the girl would do with a vodka or tequila. "She's new so take it easy okay Kyle?"

The keg tender shrugged and handed the refilled cup back to Anna. She took it tenderly and said very clearly. "Thank..youuu." It was as if she was practicing speaking.

The two girls wandered off to the side of the party. Allison had meant to lead the girl away from the thicker part of the crowd; she noticed the stranger seemed a bit intimidated by the crowding around the pool.

"So Anna," Allison attempted another somewhat normal conversation. "Are you here on an exchange scholarship? How long are you in the States for?" She took out her phone, hoping to look up some social media info on her new companion.

As Anna was looking at Allison, looking very confused at the cascade of new human words that were thrown at her, a group of boys had managed to come over. Tyrell had told his fellow football starts about the "good-looking foreign chick" and they were coming over now to confirm his report. Allison threw caution to the wind and immediately pocketed her phone again, her guard up. She knew guys like this could be jerks and did not want Anna to get hurt or scared again.

 _She might have another 'sode,_ she thought.

"Hey there Anna," Tyrell cocked his head again at Anna. The girl glared at him and he just smiled like a dufus. "I thought you might like to meet some more American guys." He gestured to his passé and they seemed to press around the girl, clearing taking in her exotic good-looks and foreign appeal.

Allison did not like any of this. The other girl was looking more and more distressed, her breathing was becoming more erratic and she was jerking her head from side to side. She stepped in front of Anna, trying to block her from the jocks.

"Okay guys, she's new in town so back off," she tried to say it casually but it came out stronger than she intended. It was the wrong move because the sensitive Tyrell immediately took offense.

"What's you prob?," he slide sideways with the grace of the football star he was and managed to move passed Allison. "Just wanted to have a proper intro." His words were slurring more; he clearly had had a few more stiff drinks. This really made Allison worry.

"Come on Anna," she held a hand out to the foreigner. "We should go."

The other girl reached for her hand but then Allison was pulled back, into the arms of another drunk jock.

"Hey come on," the voice behind her shoulder said. Allison nearly gagged at the smell of the booze on his breath. "We just want to say hi to the newbie." He put his arms around her, very unsettling.

"I said back off jerk!" Allison twisted out of the jock's hold and stepped back. His adolescent drunk mind did not take the hint and he kept coming. Allison was about to deliver a strong kick in the shins to the asshole when Anna shot past her and shoved her tiny hands into the guy's torso. With her being so petite Allison was extremely shocked to see the guy fall backwards and slide a few feet. As if he had been delivered a huge blow.

The mermaid hissed and glared at the other three jocks surrounding her. Brian immediately took offense for his wounded friend. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you!" He came forward and tried to shove away the clearly deranged chick when the mermaid slid away, placing herself between him and Allison. She opened her mouth and an animal-like snarl came out.

"Brian!" Allison shouted. "Just back off!" She knew that Anna was just trying to defend her and did not want to see the other girl hurt.

The football player did not heed the warning; once again he tried came forward and tried to grab at Allison but Anna's hands shot forward and gripped his arm. She twisted it upward and there was a small _pop_! She had broken his forearm. The shriek of the adolescent was deafening. By this time, all of the other team members were coming closer.

They had been so wrapped up in the brief fight no one had heard the police sirens or seen the flashing red and blue lights. "Alright, break it up!" voices were calling out. "Parties over!"

"Hey!" Tyrell called out. "Over here!"

"Ty!" Allison could not believe it. He was calling the cops over to them!

She turned to Anna. "Run, go!" The other girl did not seem to understand or want to leave. She was hissing again, jerking her head from side to side at the chaos of the departing teenagers and the blaring sounds of the police sirens. She gently took the other girls hand and tried to lead her away but was stopped in her tracks by no less than three police officers, blocking their only exit out of the motel pool area.

Tyrell was pointing right at Anna. "That's her officers." The stranger snarled at him and backed up a few steps.

"I am surprised at you," the female officer spoke up. "Willing to be arrested for under-aged drinking and noise complaints just to get another one of your friends arrested." She stepped forward with her arm out. "You're going to have to come with us," she directed her steady voice to Allison and Anna.

"Officer please," Allison pleaded. She had a bad feeling about how Anna was going to respond to all of this. "My friend is not from around here and she did know that—"

"Your friend apparently broke some guys arm so she needs to come to the station," the cop responded promptly. She made a subtle nod to her fellow officers and they started moving forward.

Anna was hissing and snarling further, clearly not liking being surrounded by the two burly men. One gently laid a hand on her shoulder to guide her towards the exit and she shoved him away.

The female officer's eyes lit up at the sight. "Damn not another one." Deputy Marissa Staub recognized a pattern. _Petite, ratty clothes, insane strength,_ she thought. _It's another one of those drug girls._ This time her voice was harder. "You have to come with us, now!" Her hand strayed to the Taser on her left side. _No need for the gun_ , _she needs to be alive for the drug tests._

…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"For god's sake, hold her!" Deputy Staub shouted.

The deputy already had her hands full breaking up the party and processing the drunken teenagers from the party at the Siren Song, she really did not need the crazy girl who was clearly on something breaking free and causing a scene. The Drunk Tank was already filled to capacity with teenagers, mostly standing around mulling about harmlessly, complining on how they had to give up their precious phones to the cop, and occasionally puking into the toilet. The other cells were also being filled with more sober ones; they had already called their parents and were likely going to be grounded for the rest of the year. The others had split after the sirens went off. For now, the chaos had ebbed to a flow but there was still the crazy drugged girl to deal with.

At the motel, Staub had made the decision not to use the Tazer. She had not known what drugs the teen was on and, given how small and frail she looked, thought maybe the electrical shock would be too much. She was not hard-hearted after all. But now,—watching how the skinny, one-hundred pound slip of a girl was fighting off three burly officers she was beginning to regret her decision.

The teen bucked, kicked, and above all—snarled. Like an animal. She was not coming quietly; it seemed she was determined to not come at all. They had already put her hands into plastic restraints but that did not seem to do anything. She shoved her shoulders into one of the guards and he went flying sideways.

"Enough!" Staub drew her Tazer and was preparing to shot the girl in the back, lawsuit be damned, when a sturdy voice range out.

"What's going on here?!"

Staub glanced sideways at Sheriff Bishop just coming out of his office. "We got another one sir—I'm sure of it!"

Dale stepped into a scene of chaos. The teenager was twisting herself out of the two guards that still had a hold of her, snarling and hissing with each move. She shoved her head into one of them, right into his gut. He sat down on the floor with a big ' _humph'_ and blinked slowly, clearly the wind had been knocked out of him.

The teen was about to round on the last officer holding her and Staub was about to shoot her with the Tazer when another sound stopped her.

"Anna stop!"

A girl's voice range out; it was coming from the cell where the more sober teenagers were sitting. Although all of them were crowding to the bars to see what was going on, one girl seemed to stand out more than the others. She alone did not have a look of amusement on her face but of concern. It was she who had shouted.

"Anna please stop it!" she yelled out. "They'll hurt you!"

At the sound of the other teenager the struggling monster ceased for a moment, looking at the other girl with disbelief and fear. It was only for a moment but it was enough time for all three of the huge men to surround her again and slowly make their way to the holding cells, dragging her along with them.

"Excuse me," Dale walked up to the cell, focusing on the one who had spoken. "Do you know this girl?"

Allison quickly nodded. "Yes sir." She did not say that she knew her very well. "Please let me talk to her." She saw the other girl was starting to struggle again. "Please! Don't hurt her!"

Bishop checked behind him. The three officers were holding the girl and forcing her, slowly but surely into an isolation cell. They were using as much force was necessary. Finally, she was shoved into the cell and the door slammed shut. The second she was inside she snarled her loudest yet and slammed her shoulders into the bars, as if trying to force her way out of a cage. She hissed and tried again, on another side of the cell. Each time she tried, a loud _bang_ ensued. The other teens watching from other cells starting heckling her on, laughing and jeering at the girl. They were too drunk to realize that the situation was getting very dangerous for her.

"Stop it!" yelled the girl Bishop had spoken too. She was the only one who seemed less than amused by the scene. "Stop it all of you!" she shouted to her peers. If they had not had their cell phones confiscated they would all be taking videos and photographs, Bishop just knew it.

Bishop walked over to the cell. "Calm down!" he ordered in his sternest voice to the hissing youth.

The teen let out a desperate snarl right to his face and did not stop her pounding on the bars with her own body.

"Whatever she is on sir," Deputy Staub had come up behind him and was watching the girl as well. "I'd bet my pension it's the same as that other girl."

 _The other girl?…oh god…_

Bishop stepped forward and took a _real_ look at the girl. Her unusual grey-blue eyes. Her ragged ill-fitting clothes. Her thin, haggard appearance.

 _No…it could not be another one…_

He was nearly at the bars of the cell and the girl thrust herself forward snarling, her teeth out as if trying to bite him. He yanked back in fright. Her head collided with the iron bars and she sat down on the ground, hard, bleeding from a small cut on her forehead. She blinked and looked surprised, but not overly hurt.

That was what really convinced Sheriff Bishop. _Any other girl would have bashed her skull in after that_ he thought. _She's one of…them._

Now he had to act, quickly.

"Staub go ahead and get the rest of these kids home," he directed. "Have O'Brian start helping you call parents and filling out the forms." He looked hard at the girl, somehow vowing that no one was to find out what she was. "And make sure no one else goes in that cell." He turned his head again and nodded at the injured mermaid. "I am going to get something for her cut."

"Sir," Staub immediately spoke up. "Shouldn't we go ahead and apply for the drug test? Whatever this stuff is it is clearly causing these women to—"

"I will deal with that myself Staub," Bishop said sternly. "We cannot even act on that until we have consent since she is a minor."

"We don't know that for sure sir, she could be—"

"Staub," Bishop interrupted. "Just please help me out." He turned to his deputy. She would not be letting this go; he could see it in her eyes. But he had to at least try and stop her. "I will deal with it myself."

Staub narrowed her eyes, almost glaring at him before she checked herself. "Yes sir."

Bishop looked again at the mermaid. She was sitting up, still snarling and fighting the hand restraints. He needed to get her out of those before she dislocated her own shoulders. Then he noticed the bandage on her shoulder had slipped. No surprise, with all the banging and bashing she had done with her own body to the cell bars. But what did surprise him was her skin underneath it. Mottled, bruised, and even oozing puss. He took a closer look at her. He could see that there were other marks on her now that she had stopped moving, some sort of a rash.

 _That looks painful_ , he thought. He knelt down and made sure his eyes were level with hers.

She was coughing now, a thick spasm was racking her thin chest and her breathing was starting to sound heavy. She still had the strength to level a glare at him though.

Sheriff Bishop remembered his daughter Maddie and how she had mentioned that the mer could not stay on land for long periods of time. _Is this why?_ He thought incredulously. _Do they get sick?_

He sighed. Maddie was not going to like that he had to process her. He had said it before that if it came to the town or these shape-shifters he would be responsible for the town and this girl had broken the arm of a teenage boy at the party.

"Hey I am going to get something for your cuts okay?" he spoke to the girl behind the bars. As a reply, she hissed at him. _Does she even understand me?_ He continued as if she did. "I am going to call someone to come help you okay?"

"Help."

Bishop was taken aback. _Did she just speak?_ "What did you say?"

The girl glared at him. "Help. You no help."

Bishop felt the need to explain. "Yes actually I am going to help you. You hurt someone and now you need to stay there until I get someone to help you."

"Bad people. Want hurt—Anna and Allisssson"

…

"She's at the station!"

Maddie hung up her cell phone and quickly spoke to Ben and Ryn. They were in Ben's car, driving frantically through town looking for Anna. Ryn had reasoned that the young mermaid did not return to the ocean; she would not have gone without Ryn, so she must still be in town. They had all piled in Ben's car and were driving the entire length and breadth of Bristol Cove when Maddie had received a call from her dad.

"What?" Ben turned to her. "How the hell she wind up there?"

"No idea, he didn't say," she glanced in the back seat towards Ryn and lowered her voice. "But he did say she was hurting."

If she thought that would prevent Ryn from hearing her she was sadly mistaken.

"Anna hurt!?" Ryn practically screeched.

"Ryn, calm down!" Maddie reached back and tried to stroke Ryn's arm but the mermaid was thrashing too hard. "We are on our way there now."

Ben nodded. "Hold on!"

He did a crazy 180 turn and then started speeding in the opposite direction they were heading, towards the sheriff station. He could only hope they would get there in time.

…

"Do you want some water?"

Anna looked up at the older female, the one who had placed the restraints on her hands and forced her into the moving machine to this…cage. She had no love for this human, or any human right now, so she just glared at Deputy Staub and her attempts at nicety.

"Alright, suite yourself." Staub took a healthy sip, showing the young girl how refreshing and cool it was with an exaggerated sigh of relief.

Anna was tempted. She was getting drier by the minute and she could not get to the sea. The humans had taken her out of her original cage, and put her in another one, this one had no bars and looked like a room but it had only one door, no windows, and there was nothing in it but a bench to sit on. She had ignored it and continued to pace, stopping to scratch at her growing rash every once in a while now that her hand restraints were gone.

"You know, you probably should stop doing that," Staub could not help but comment. The rash looked like it was bleeding. The medics had offered the girl medical assistance but she had thrashed and hissed at them hard, threatening to bite so it had been decided to leave her be. After all, a simple rash was hardly life-threatening. While Bishop was talking with the other teenagers about what had happened at the party Staub had decided to deal with this one herself. Technically, she was pushing her authority here by going against the Sheriff's wishes but maybe if this girl was interviewed while she was still on her ride she would let something slip.

The teen ignored Staub's comment and continued to pace like a caged animal; she stayed as far away from Staub as possible, keeping to the far end of the room.

"Are you going to talk?" Staub asked. Once again she was met with stubborn silence.

"I heard from one of the other kids that you're not from around here," Staub continued. "Maybe where your from drugs and alcohol and breaking people's arms is appropriate but not around here." She walked a little closer to the girl. "You are facing some serious charges so you need to tell me what you are on, right now, or else we are not going to be able to get you home."

"Home."

Staub raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you can talk. Now tell me what I need to know."

"Home," said the girl again, a little weaker this time. She had stopped pacing and was now looking very worried. As if the word had triggered a memory or a thought. And it was disturbing. A wracking cough vibrated throughout her thin body, causing her to lean against the wall a little for support.

Staub started to get worried. If the girl got sick while on her watch she would ultimately be responsible for anything that happened, even if the teen was on drugs.

 _Shit, I am going to have to call a doc aren't I?_

She walked right up to the teen. Despite her weakened appearance the girl glared right up at her, defiant to the end. Staub tried not to look concerned, even though she was. "I am going to get a doctor for you alright? Then you and I are going to talk some more." She would have to make sure the girl was sedated when that happened, otherwise someone might get their heads bitten off.

Staub turned to go and then she heard a weak voice behind her, "I want Ryn. Ryn help Anna."

Staub cocked her head and glanced back at the girl. _Where have I heard that name before?_ But the girl was silent after that, slumping to the floor and leaning her head against the wall. She started coughing again. Had Deputy Staub knew how close the girl was to death from dehydration she would have been far more concerned; as it was, all she did was leave. In her human mind a simple cough meant the druggie was probably getting down from their high.

Walking down the hall of the station she came upon a scene of chaos.

"I keep telling you, yes! She was defending me," another teen was yelling at O'Brian. It looked as though he had processed and sent all of the teens home except for this last one. And she was giving him a piece of her mind.

 _Defending?_ This was a new development. Staub was about to call out and ask for some details when a stern voice rang out from her left side.

"Deputy! Where is that girl?"

 _Oh boy,_ she thought. _Here it comes._ She turned to face her boss. "I put her in Interrogation 2 sir for questioning."

Bishop came up to her, his face the sternest she'd ever seen. "You know that was pushing it Deputy. The girl is a minor and, despite any accusations, you should have contacted her parents before that."

"Well considering she was not even talking I didn't really have—"

"Dad!"

Both law enforcement officers turned at the sound of a familiar voice. It was Maddie, Ben trailing right behind her and a stranger behind him. The stranger tried to run into the cell holding area, when Maddie pulled her back.

"We need to be careful," she whispered to Ryn, "We need to make sure no one found out about her first and then we will get her back." She stopped talking when she saw some officers, including her dad, coming over.

"Maddie," Bishop quickly came over to his daughter.

Maddie was breathless. "Thank you for calling us."

"What the hell is this sir?" Staub could not help but ask.

Bishop rounded on her. "While you were questioning without permission I found out our guests nearest relations."

Staub was confounded. "Your daughter?!"

"No," Bishop said. He nodded his head away from Maddie. "Her."

Staub looked in the direction he indicated and saw a stranger, or at least she was a stranger for a mere second before she recognized the woman she had arrested for attempted skinny dipping months ago. She was incredulous. "All due respect sir, this girl is facing some serious assault charges and I don't think that releasing her into the custody of—"

"Actually, you can drop those assault charges."

Officer O'Brian had joined the group discussion; behind him was the teenager that had been yelling at him a moment earlier. She looked about all of the adults, a concerned expression on her face.

Staub could not believe her ears. "What was that?!"

O'Brian nodded to the girl next to him. "She explained what happened. The other girl was defending her against an assault by some of those boys." He glanced at the notebook in his hands. "The story checks out by three other witnesses. Plus, I pulled these boys records. Multiple red flags, including other attempts at assault." He nodded at Allison. "Her friend just got carried away with protecting her."

Staub was indignant. "But…she broke his arm! She is way too strong. She must be on something."

"She's not on any drugs, trust me" Allison spoke up. "She was just really scared and the adrenaline made her act very…strongly." That last part she barely managed to make it sound not made up. She hoped everyone would buy it.

The group was silent after that.

Ben felt as if he could hug the stranger. Maddie was also relieved. She knew that Ryn had been assaulted by someone when she first landed and Maddie was thankful that the same thing had not happened to this young mermaid. _They were lucky it was just a broken arm._

Out loud she asked, "Can we take her home now?"

Sheriff Bishop nodded. "Now that we have that straightened out yes," He nodded to Ben. "You need to fill out some paperwork, pay her fine, and then she can go."

Staub attempted one more time to stop this. "Sir, she should not be allowed to just walk out of here—"

"Where is she!?" It was Ryn who had spoken up, glaring daggers at Staub.

Staub glared back, but quailed a little under the intense gaze of the stranger. Before she had a chance to answer Maddie pulled Ryn aside and stroked her arm, "Come on. Dad said she's this way." Then she led her away.

Staub watched to two go, seeing the intimacy of the touch and reading it somewhat correctly. _Did not know the sheriff's daughter was into that sort of thing._ She watched Ben and Bishop walk to the front desk, readying to fill out paperwork. _What is with these two and taking in strays lately?_ She narrowed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ryn was practically running down the hall to the isolation cell. Maddie trotted to keep up.

'Isolation 2' was at the very end of the corridor, which seemed longer since they really really needed to get her out. Finally, they came to the locked door. Ryn practically tore it off its hinges in her eagerness to get inside. Once in, she rushed forward. Maddie paused at the threshold, a little shocked at the sight.

The young mer was slumped on the floor, her bandage askew and her shoulder freshly bleeding from her rash. Her lips, her hands—everything about her seemed drier than a bone. Ryn knelt down with a cry of "No!" and put her forehead to the girl's, touching her face and her hair.

Then she turned to Maddie, her face desperate. "She need water…now!"

Ryn reached down and scooped the teen up, supporting her weight by placing one of the girl's arms around her own shoulders. Maddie rushed to grab the other arm and, between the two of them, they managed to get Anna out of the room and into the hallways. The girl slumped in their arms and barely moved her feet.

Maddie glanced at the main exit and decided against it; there were still cops and many witnesses in that direction. She turned everyone around. "Come on; let's go through the side exit." She made a mental note to text her father and Ben to tell them where they went. "We'll get her to the ocean fast, I promise Ryn."

Ryn did not answer, she was too focused on her sister mermaid and the pain and peril she was in.

The two of them were so focused on Anna they failed to notice they were being watched. Allison had been all but forgotten by the adults after she had given her testimony; but she was not leaving until she found out that Anna was alright. She had intended to search herself until she overheard the two women talking and then she was determined to follow until they led her to Anna. When they had taken Anna out of the room, in between them as if she were unconscious, she wanted to rush forward and see her friend but then held back when she started to hear the very weird conversation.

 _What the hell is going on here?_ she thought as she followed stealthily.

…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Maddie and Ryn made it to the seaside in a matter of ten minutes, half-carrying their precious cargo. They had to find a more secluded spot to ensure no one would see them before going in. It was nighttime and the darkness made a good cover, but Maddie wanted to make extra sure. They stumbled along the shoreline for some time and Ryn was hissing impatiently when they finally found a removed area.

"Here!" Maddie said quickly to Ryn.

They were behind an old dock, surrounded by rocks and wash-up shrubbery. It was a shallow area and there was very little chance of beach goers spotting them since this area of the coast was covered in shoals and somewhat stagnant.

That did not matter to the mermaids. Once they were on the shoreline, Ryn quickly scooped down and lifted Anna clear off her feet, cradling her as one might carry a child. She then hurried into the water, going further and further in until the sea lapped her waist. Once the water came to Ryn's chest, Anna seemed to come out of her stupor; her huge eyes opened, blinked once or twice, and then she rolled out of Ryn's arms into the ocean. A second later, Ryn put her head underwater to join. As Maddie watch from the shallows, the surface of the water thrashed and bubbled while the transformation took place. She could even hear muted screeches as the pain of the transformation set in for the mermaids; it worried her but she could do nothing about it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she saw two rows of fins break the surface of the water, one smaller than the other.

She sighed in relief. _They made it!_

"Maddie!"

Maddie turned and saw Ben hurrying to her.

"It's okay, it's okay," she quickly reassured him. "They made it."

Ben came to her side and nodded, sighing with relief. "Oh, thank God."

He joined her as the two of them gazed out to the bay, watching the fins of the two mermaids occasionally pop up and slap the water surface. It reminded him of the last time they had stood watching Ryn swim out to the sea; after she had found her sister, and before the disastrous night. When everything seemed well in the world.

Ben felt a ghost of a touch on his right hand and realized Maddie had lifted her left hand to take his. Perhaps she was doing it unconsciously because her eyes were still on the water, but to Ben it meant all the world to him, that touch. He gently folded his fingers over her and felt her give his hand a light squeeze. It was a step in the right direction.

They watched the two mermaids for a time before Maddie turned to him. "The stuff she is sick with; it's been modified hasn't it?"

Ben nodded and rubbed his head. "It's an enhanced leptospirosis; I think it's been genetically modified to make them sick." He nodded to the ocean; Maddie knew he meant the mer. "It could be why we have been seeing all these sick seals and dolphins too."

Maddie frowned. "The military again." She shook her head. "Why are they so desperate to get their hands on mermaids? I mean, deliberately polluting the waters?"

"I don't know, but we have to help."

"How?" Maddie could not help but ask.

Ben had already thought about it. "We get proof that they are dumping things in the water; we report them." He nodded to the ocean. "In the meantime we treat Anna and have her tell the—the rest of them, that they need medicine and they need to stay in cleaner waters until we stop the pollution."

Maddie sighed. "I don't think Ryn will like that; she's really protective of her."

"I know, but we have to try."

The two of them became silent, watching the two mermaids for a time. Each caught up in their own thoughts and ideas of the situation. However strange and dangerous it was.

From a short distance away, Allison was hiding behind a large boulder, her eyes as wide as they could possibly be and her mouth hanging open. She had just seen her—friend, she now acknowledged—go into the water and disappear. But then, those fins? At first, her entirely rational human mind thought there were large fish in the water but then, after hearing the conversation between the man and the woman, hearing the words spoken aloud, she had to come to the conclusion, however impossible it was.

 _A mermaid_ , she thought. _Anna is a freakin' mermaid!_

She also overheard that Anna was sick from some kind of GMO that the military had developed. Another thought came to her, this one a bit wretched. Her mom was U.S. Military; she had been relocated to Bristol Cove a year ago and had brought the family, including Allison and her sisters with her.

 _Is that why she is here? To hurt them?_ Every pore of her being flamed with anger at the injustice. Like many of her generation, she was an environmentalist and indignant at the thought of poisoning waters to drive out the wildlife. And this pollution was personal, this was hurting her friend!

 _I need to do something._

She wanted to stay, she wanted to make herself known but somehow something in the back of her intelligent mind told her it was not a good idea. Not yet anyway. She could not make out what the man and the woman on the shoreline looked like, but they seemed liked good people. Her instincts told her that her friend was safe with these two.

 _But she's not safe in her home_ , she thought furiously. _She is sick because they are poisoning the water._ She would have to find out, she would have to do something, and she knew the first place to start.

...

Later that evening the two mermaids and two humans settled into Ben's houseboat. Anna was dressed in an old shirt and boxers of Ben's and seated at the kitchen table, devouring a whole halibut. Maddie brought out the first-aid kit and sat next to the mermaid. Anna looked up from her food, her eyes curious while her hands still shoveled raw fish into her mouth.

"You're hurt, I want to put some medicine on it," Maddie said gently, gesturing to Anna's face. The mermaid lightly touched her cut lip and cheek; her expression was confusion, as if she had forgotten she was even injured. As Maddie came forward with some iodine to clean the wound and she leaned back, a little wary. But when she saw Ryn's stern look she lowered her head submissively and allowed Maddie to touch her face.

"Sssorry," Anna whispered as Maddie worked on cleaning her cut cheeks. "Touch bad in water."

"What was that?" Ben asked as he watched. Sometimes the mermaids were hard to understand with their accent and limited English.

Ryn was the one who tried to explain. "In water we do not touch here," she gestured to her face and gently reached out to run a hand down Ben's own, from forehead to chin. "Bad. Mean to hurt."

"I guess that means they don't usually touch each other's face with their hands," Maddie concluded. She gently put a cool pack on Anna's bruised left cheek. "This will help with the swelling," she explained gently. Anna nodded and placed her own hand up to hold the pack in place. "Given how their hands look when they are in the water it's not surprising."

"Yeah," Ben mumbled. He remembered Ryn's claws, that night she had attacked him. That reminded him of something, something that had been bothering him. He turned to Anna. "Where did you get hurt? In the water?"

Anna lowered her head, as if ashamed. "Yes."

"How?"

"I leave," Anna said simply.

Ben was confused. "You got hurt because you left?"

Again, Ryn was the one to explain. "In the water, we do not hurt each other." She said firmly. "We do not hurt babies!"

"So what happened?" Maddie asked gently as she helped lower the cooling pack from Anna's cheek.

Anna looked distressed as she pulled her legs into herself, curling up on the chair. It was if she was trying to make herself smaller. Ben and Maddie knew to give her a moment as she breathed a little heavier and rocked a little, like a distraught animal. Finally, she managed to speak. "I say' I go', I say 'I find Ryn, I come back. Ryn will help'," Anna explained her voice breaking. "When I leave, others chase, tell me 'no'." She shuddered and cringed, folding into herself even more. "Say 'Not family'; say I am bad. Then—hurt Anna."

"They?" Ben asked. "It was other members of your…tribe?"

Anna nodded, her face very troubled. She trembled a little and then suddenly stood up. Unexpectedly, she came right over to Ryn, bowing her head. "That why when I see you, I am afraid." She seemed to be begging the rival alpha's forgiveness. "But you not bad, you good." She bowed her head even lower. "I sorry."

Ryn closed her eyes and leaned forward, placing her forehead against Anna's bowed head. Both mermaids looked as if they were relishing the touch; Ben and Maddie stayed silent, acknowledging the moment of intimacy that the mer seemed to share. Much had come to light now that Anna could speak more English and was more open to their company.

Maddie came over to where Ben was. "I guess it is against their laws to go to another colony for help," she whispered.

Ben had to stop himself from shuddering, remembering those feral violet eyes and flashing hiss of the alpha female who had come ashore with the intent to kill Ryn. "Yeah," he replied, shaking his head. "It must be part of their territoriality." He glanced appreciatively at the younger mermaid. "No wonder she was terrified when she first came."

Meanwhile Ryn and Anna had separated from their show of affection and Ryn came over to where Ben and Maddie were. "She no go back," she said simply. "Others hurt her."

"Yeah Ryn, but—" Ben had a hard time saying it, "—I'm not sure she can stay here." Logistically it would be difficult keeping a new mermaid under control. One was difficult enough, but two? They would need to feed her, clothe her, make sure she stayed out of trouble like how she got into at that party. Moreover, the authorities would start asking questions about why a teenager was living with them, and why she was not going to school.

Maddie quickly spoke up as well. "It's not that we do not want her here Ryn it's just that—"she also found it difficult to say it aloud. "—it will be hard for her here."

Ryn narrowed her eyes; she seemed to be confused that her mates were not open to the idea.

"I go back."

Ryn turned; it was Anna that had spoken. She had stood, come up from behind Ryn and had apparently heard every word that was said. Her young face had an adult-like sadness on it. "I go back, help. Anna help," she said firmly. She touched her shoulder where the abrasions from the enhanced leptospirosis was healing. "Others need help."

Ryn hissed a little; but it seemed she was distraught, not angry. "You go back, they will hurt."

"Yes, they hurt," Anna answered simply. "Anna go back; help."

Ben and Maddie watched the exchange, knowing to stay out of it as much as possible. It seemed to be a mermaid discussion and they both knew how much Ryn valued her status as the alpha. As much as they both were curious about the social structure and interactions of Ryn and her kind, they both knew when and where to stay out of it.

Ryn hissed again, this time stronger and with more of a frustrated note. She turned away and paced a little, she seemed to be debating something.

"Ryn?" it was Maddie who broke the silence. "What's wrong?"

Ryn glanced up at her, a worried expression on her face. She walked over to Maddie and Ben, a little ways from Anna. She lowered her voice and spoke in an urgent tone. "We do not help others," she uttered. She looked even more troubled. "I am strongest, I kill others who comes into my waters. So she not help others. It is our way. "

Maddie spoke up, unable to hold her silence. "Ryn, you're not saying that you want to kill—"

"No! Not want to, Maddie," Ryn quickly reassured her mate. She turned and glanced at the teenager across the room. Anna was going through Maddie's first aid kit with the curiosity of a child: taking something out, turning it round and round in her hands, sniffing it, then taking something else out and starting the process again. "It is not our way to help others from water, others that are not family. But Ryn…Ryn helped Anna."

That last statement seemed to be for herself, she said it so quietly.

Ben moved forward and took Ryn's hand. "Hey," he murmured. "It's okay." It was a touch of love. Of comfort, not of seduction or lust. And he could feel that.

"No, no okay," Ryn answered. "I go back in water, my family not like that I help others." She looked over at Anna again. "Is not our way." Her thoughts were more of a turmoil than she was letting on. _Am I becoming…human? Is this what humans do?_ In the ocean, hierarchy, territoriality, and the defending of home ranges were as vital to their survival as eating and mating. To disregard and break such standards could be fatal to her people. Why would they help a colony that might one day steal their food, take over their territory, kill their hunters? But this—this was a baby, another colony baby, how could she do otherwise?

 _This is what Ben and Maddie do,_ the thought came to her. _They help me when I first come; I not family then but they help me._ Her mates and their behavior and actions spoke volumes to her and seemed to solidify her choice, however unorthodox by mer standards.

She walked over to Anna. The young mer glanced fearfully up at her, still a little apprehensive of her presence.

Ryn nodded firmly. "I go with you, help others."

The young mer shook her head. "No. Ryn must stay. Stay with mates," Anna nodded to Ben and Maddie.

Ben and Maddie exchanged a look, somewhat uncomfortable. It was not the first time they had been acknowledged with that word and it was still new to them.

Ryn gave a bit of a snarl and stepped forward towards Anna. She had an authoritative stride, as if she were imposing her high status. She bore down on Anna. The younger mermaid bowed her head, but otherwise did not move. It was as if she was respectfully asking this of the alpha. She had clearly meant no disrespect but she had voiced her opinions and it did not agree with Ryn's.

"Ryn, wait," Maddie stepped forward and gently touched Ryn's arm, causing the mermaid to turn and look at her. "Anna has a point; if you go the other colony might not want to have the help." She nodded to Anna. "But they may accept it from her."

"But…she will be hurt," Ryn said again. "I not want her hurt."

Anna looked up. "Anna helps," she said again.

"Ryn,"Ben said softly. "I think she'd made up her mind."

Ryn hissed, even adding a bit of a snarl. She knew she could force the young mer to stay on land, command her to stay out of the water, but…it was not in her. Her mermaid nature, the one of fierce territoriality and hierarchical standards was conflicting with very strong empathy and compassion. She knew she must maintain her leadership, appear strong and cold and uncaring, she knew she should punish the young one for speaking out against her but…Anna's people were sick. They needed help.

Anna, this young mermaid with no status in her pod whatsoever was willing to go, to risk her life.

How could she do otherwise?

"Okay, yes."

Anna bowed her head again, her hissing were soft and gentle and almost seemed like cooing. She was thankful.

Ryn turned to Ben and Maddie. "She need help." Her meaning was clear.

Ben nodded. "We can use the research boat, take her out ourselves."

Ryn nodded but her eyes were distant. _Am I right to do this?_ To allow such a defiance to her authority was unheard of in her species; she was the alpha and no mer, not even the young ones, were allowed to speak out against her let alone defy her direct commands. But she had just yielded to Anna's request, out of compassion. _Is this bad?_ Was it because she spent time with humans that she was allowing this? Was it bad?

 _No not bad,_ her own thoughts echoed in her turbulent mind. _Just…different._

"Ryn?"

Maddie's voice brought her out of her contemplations and back to the matter at hand.

"Yes?"

Maddie looked at Ben and then back at her. Something was wrong; something had to be admitted. "Ryn we think that—" she glanced at Anna who looked back at her with curiosity, waiting for her to continue "—that humans are making her people sick." Ben nodded his affirmation.

Ryn's brow wrinkled. "Humans do this?" She looked at Anna's bandaged shoulder where the lesions had almost healed. "How?"

"It's…complicated," Ben stepped forward and chimed in. "But what is happening out there, out there in the water, is not supposed to happen." He looked very troubled. "Your people are not supposed to get this sick."

Ryn seemed unconvinced. "In water we get sick. We get sick, then we get better."

"This time, they will not get better," Ben explained gently, "Not without medicine."

"Ryn," Maddie said gently. "We think that the humans who are doing this are the same ones who were hunting you."

"Hunt?" Anna spoke up, looking very troubled. "Humans hunt us?"

"Yes," Maddie answered.

"Why?"

Ryn hissed sharply and Anna quieted down. Ryn knew that it was not a time for such questions. She looked up at Ben and Maddie. "Must stop them."

"We will," Ben said solidly. "I'm not sure how yet, but we will." He looked firmly at Anna. "And I think we'll need your help."

The young mer nodded.

…

The next morning was Sunday, which was always a quiet day at the research facility. That was rather fortunate for Ben and Maddie since they could not very well say that they were taking inventory of the stocked topical medication for leptospirosis to use on mermaids.

Ben counted the containers and shook his head. "We don't have enough here." He glanced around, frustrated. "The seals and otters have been getting sicker and sicker and we can't get enough of this stuff for treatment." He groaned. "And now we know why we have seen an increase in lepto from the pinnipeds," he used the term that marine biologist had for members of the seal family. "If the military is behind this how can we get enough medicine out there to help?"

Maddie looked up from typing coordinates on her laptop. "If we ask for more meds the center is going to have to cut funds on other facilities."

Ben gestured wide with his arm. "Like what? We are a bare bones facility as it is." He remembered all the marine life that they had to turn away because they simply did not have the room or the funds. "How can we help if we don't have the means?"

"We keep writing grants; we keep asking for funds, we do the best we can." Maddie sighed and glanced out the window. "I can't even imagine what this is like for Anna. Her family being sick and weak."

Ben nodded solemnly. "You're right; I guess we just do the best we can."

While the two humans were preparing for their voyage, the two mermaids were walking around town. Ryn had reasoned it would be good for Anna to be outside; it would help her heal and be good for her spirits. Staying cooped up in Ben's houseboat hardly seemed like a good idea and Anna did not want to go to the research facility. Considering how sick and delirious she was when she first arrive there, Ryn did not blame her one bit.

Ryn pointed out a storefront to Anna. "That is 'market'", she said the word slowly and deliberately so that Anna could learn. "Is where humans find food."

Anna tilted her head, confused. Humans found food in that small area? It would take many leagues of foraging and hunting under the sea for her kind to even come up with a fraction of what the humans must need.

Ryn continued. "That 'liberry'" she nodded to another building. "Books."

Anna turned to her. "What is…booookssss?"

"Is…thing…like what Anna found name in."

Anna then remembered the brightly colored item with the illustrations of the two sisters: Elsa and Anna. Frozen. A book.

The two mermaids were now strolling past a playground. Many small occupants ran around playing. Ryn watched the human children going to and fro with interest, thinking about babies and young ones. Anna was distracted by her own thoughts and she did not see her visitor until a warm, wet nose bumped her left thigh.

She hissed but then stopped abruptly when she recognized a friend. Making a high-pitched squeal, she knelt down and began caressing the golden retriever with her head.

Honey the dog was also delighted to see her friend. She had felt the pull towards the mermaid, as she would feel the pull of a pup or a potential mate. The preternatural instinct of dogs, plus the combined training she had as a service dog made her aware of this young person's needs and she wiggled in eager anticipation of how she could help. The fact that Anna smelled of fish and the briny sea made her even more intriguing. Her mind scolded her for disregarding her service dog training, but her heart felt that this was the right thing to do. She nudged right back.

Ryn had turned and watched the exchange with an incredulous expression. She herself remained standing; it was beneath her dignity as an alpha to even consider lowering herself and allowing a land mammal to greet her as if she were one of its kind. But Anna seemed to like the animal.

Anna looked up at Ryn, her expressional gleeful. "It help me. I come and it help me find humans." She nudged herself into the dog so that her throat rested on the dog's throat, as she would one of her own kind under the water, drawing warmth and comfort.

It was a similar posture to what Ryn did to show Maddie that she trusted her, so long ago. Ryn felt her hardened expression melt a little. There was something oddly appealing about the animal. Not for food though. For…something else? She resisted the urge to reach out towards the animal. It would be very improper for an alpha to show affection to an inferior species. But she did allow her scowl to slip away.

"Honey! Get back here girl."

A woman had strolled up and immediately placed a hand on the dog's head, guiding her away from Anna. "I'm so sorry about that; she normally does not act like that." She gripped Honey's collar, keeping the dog firmly at her side, even as it whined and tugged to be closer to Anna.

Anna was confused and upset that her four-legged friend had been taken away but then was distracted by the sight of a human girl approaching. She had come from the same direction as the woman, but she did not walk she wheeled herself forward in an electric chair. "Mom, I've told you—Honey doesn't have to stay by my side all the time." She appeared to be of the same age such as the humans at the party, but so small and frail.

"I know Elsie but she needs to learn that she cannot just walk up to strangers," the mother replied to her daughter. She could not help but worry about her daughter sometimes; her advanced MS was not to be trifled with and they had thought a service dog would be a help, emotionally as well as physically. But her daughter was frightfully stubborn and insisted the dog should be allowed to be normal and not tied to her.

While Elsie berated her mother the other teenager unexpectedly came forward, crouched so that she was eye-level, and placed a hand on the Elsie's right cheek. She was startled; being touched by a complete stranger was unsettling but people never reached out to her like that, not even her family. They tended to avoid contact with her, as though they might somehow catch her crippled-ness by touching her. They even avoided looking at her because it made them feel sorry for her. Like so many caught up in such a situation, her parents did not know what to do and instead of communicating they showered her with things that were supposed to make her feel better, like the service dog that she really did not need. Despite her disease, she was still trying to be a normal teenager, MS and all.

"You sick," the strange girl said. "Like family." She stroked Elsie's cheek then gently moved a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Looking rather mystified, the girl frowned as she saw a tear rolling down Anna's cheek. Elsie realized then what else was different about this girl. This entire time, her gaze had not lingered on the chair. The gazes of most people invariably locked onto her chair, and then looked away in embarrassment. This girl hadn't done that, even though the chair was big and bulky. And the way she was touching her—it was only on her cheek but it was oddly…sensual? Enticing?

Then she heard humming.

Ryn whipped around as soon as she heard the song. She knew the dangers of the siren song; she saw what it did to Ben. Anna no sing! Raising a hand, she made as if to yank Anna away but then she heard the different tone of the song and stopped abruptly. Not song for hunting, song for helping. Sounded different from what family use. Anna's song seemed deeper, and it was…pulling. Pulling and rearranging things in the girl's sick and weak body.

But only for a moment. The spell was broken when Elsie's mother shoved herself firmly between Anna and her daughter. "What do you think you're doing? Leave my daughter alone!"

The older mermaid glared at the human but the mother glared right back. Ryn recognized her stance, the female was ready to fight and defend her baby with her life. She readily understood that so she gently tugged Anna away. The two mermaids quickly left.

"What was that about?" the older woman said aloud. Then she quickly looked to her daughter. "Are you alright Elsie?"

"I'm—I'm fine Mom." And she really was.

…

Late that evening, Ryn and Anna walked into the research facility. The two humans had finished making preparations for their journey. The plan was simple—Ben and Maddie would take Anna out to sea, past any roving human eyes and give her a bag of medicinal supplies for the mermaids who needed treatment. She would also carry a camera, strapped to her back in a manner similar to what they would have done for one of their research sea lions. If they were the military dumping enhanced biocontrol into the ocean, as everyone suspected they were, then they would get proof of their doings. On camera.

Once out onto the water Ben slowed and stopped the boat while Maddie finished strapping the camera on Anna. "This will help us track where you are," she said carefully to Anna. Ryn was standing close as well, fascinated by the device. "Once you spot the place where you got sick just look around and we will get an image."

Anna glanced at her quizzically. "Imaaaage?" She emphasized the vowel in an attempt to mimic Maddie's accent.

Maddie smiled and simplified. "We will see what you see." She triple-checked to make sure the camera would not slip off and hinder the movement of the young mer. Anna had hissed and backed up the first time Maddie had tried to place it on her but after being reassured it would not hurt her, had allowed the device to be strapped to her head and back. It was not ideal, the images would be slightly distorted but the camera needed to not show any images of the mermaid herself.

Ben glanced around with his binoculars, making sure they were alone at sea. "Are we ready up there?" he yelled to the bow of the boat.

Maddie turned to him. "I think so."

Anna nodded and began stripping without ceremony. Ben quickly turned his head as Maddie and Ryn both helped Anna out of her clothes. Now that she was undressed, her thin state and her scars from the infection were very obvious and Ryn was looking more and more anxious as the young mer stepped closer to the sides of the boat. She bent down and picked up the waterproof bag full of topical medicine for the mermaids that would need treatment.

Without a glance back, she gracefully dove into the water.

…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What's taking so long?"

Maddie voiced what all three of them were thinking aloud. According to Ben's wristwatch, Anna had dove in almost 20 minutes ago and so far, nothing had happened. The laptop had showed a few distorted images of a deep blue ocean and its typical marine inhabitants: shoals of fish, the occasional pinniped, and then—nothing. As with much of their equipment, the cameras and harness were severely over-used, but the marine research facility simply did not have the funding to replace them. It should not have been surprising that the camera would fail but most of the time they would get it to work again remotely.

This time that was not the case.

Ben tapped on the laptop keys much harder than was necessary, trying his best to get the camera up again. The blank screen did not respond to his demands. "Come on, come on!" he urged. Maddie leaned over him, squeezing his shoulder in comfort.

Ryn had initially crowded behind the laptop as well but as soon as the thing went blank, she stalked to the stern of the boat, scanning the ocean for any signs of Anna. As Ben continued to work on the obsolete technology, she paced and hissed, venting her frustrations.

Ben rubbed his forehead. "Maybe it's because she is a lot deeper than we thought?" Their cameras had a depth ability of well over 1000 m but just how far down was Anna going?

"Let me try something," Maddie nudged Ben out of the sole chair on the boat helm and took over the control of the laptop.

Ben leaned over her for a moment but then noticed Ryn looking down into the water. He quickly walked over and placed a hand on her arm.

"Ryn, wait a minute. That is not a good idea."

The mermaid looked up at him, her expression worried. "She may need help."

"Or she could be with her family now, distributing the medicine. If you go, you could disrupt things." He gently tugged her away from the boat edge. "Just give her a little more time."

"I've got it!"

Ben whipped around at Maddie's yell and he and Ryn rushed over to where Maddie was sitting. All three crowded behind the laptop. Finally, the tech had responded.

At first, there was not much to see, a few hazy images of a deep cobalt blue and no signs of life.

Ben leaned closer. "Where is she?"

Maddie checked a chart. "According to the GPS, she's about 50 nautical miles south." Her eyebrows raised up. "She swam that far?"

Ryn did not join the conversation; she was concentrating too hard on the images of the screen. A metallic object flashed briefly in the screen corner, then the images quickly shifted; Anna had seen something and then changed directions quickly to approach from behind.

"What that?" she demanded to her mates. It was not a sea creature; it looked like something from the humans.

Ben and Maddie studied the screen. It was some sort of an unmanned sub; similar to what research facilities such as theirs used to study the ocean floor. It was flat and compact, easily able to travel many miles in the ocean while being remotely controlled by an operator on a distant boat or base of operations.

They explained that as best they could to Ryn. She scowled, clearly not satisfied with the explanation.

All three of them watch the screen breathlessly. Anna was following the probe; the perspective of the camera on her back showed that she was trailing it, but she was not close enough for any clear indicators as to where it came from, and whom was operating it.

"Come on Anna," Maddie whispered to the screen. "Get a little closer and we will nail the bastards."

They watched as the probe became a little less distorted and there was more light; the sub and Anna were going towards the surface. The probe turned and an emblem that was painting on its side was suddenly visible.

There it was. The insignia of the US military.

Maddie quickly made sure the image was documented.

But Anna was clearly not done, she continued to follow the probe. And she was getting bolder, moving closer and closer to the drone. Ryn hissed an urgent note. She did not like that the young mer was getting too close.

Anna seemed to move closer still, she came right up to the thing. Ben and Maddie held their breaths in anticipation.

"Careful Anna," Ben whispered, "It could have cameras."

As if anticipating the warning from Ben, the image swiveled as if Anna was examining the probe, carefully avoiding the camera lenses on its side. Suddenly, a clawed webbed hand reached from off-screen and tugged at the side of the sub. Two hands now, tugging at something that was attached to the bottom and side.

"The hell is she doing?" Ben was concerned, as they all were. This had not been a part of the plan. The three of them waited anxiously, leaning heavily onto each other.

Anna's two hands finally freed the object and held it, turning it round and round as she examined it. Ben and Maddie did too, remotely from the camera.

Ryn was impatient for an explanation. "What is?" she asked sharply.

Maddie explained, as best she could. "It's a sample container for biohazardous materials." She shook her head, incredulously. "The CDC uses things like that for transporting bacterial infectious materials."

"Those bastards," Ben growled. "Now we have them." Spontaneously, he reached out and gave a half hug to Maddie. She returned the gesture easily.

Ryn did not understand many of her mates' words; actually, she hardly understood any of them. But she could sense their conviction that Anna had done something to help. She made a content noise in her throat and gripped both Maddie and Ben's hands in her own. They both squeezed gently back. It spoke volumes of how much their relationship had changed. Attempts by Ben to remove Ryn from his mind had been unsuccessful and he had felt so alone while trying. But now, they had each other and it was not obsessive, destructive, or tumorous—it was genuine concern, compassion, and love. They were her mates. The common goal of helping Anna and finding out the truth behind this new influx of disease in the marine wildlife had united the two humans and the mermaid.

The three of them were startled out of their thoughts by a new image that flashed across the screen. It had moved so fast they did not see what it was.

Ben leaned over the laptop. "What was that?"

Maddie and Ryn came up to his sides, concentrating hard on the screen. The camera was showing that Anna had turned away from the vessel, and she was swimming fast. Was she chasing something? Or was something chasing her?

The camera jolted, as if Anna had been struck my something. She seemed to righten herself up and then resumed her hurried swimming. Then another jolt, this one harder, and then the camera was now being jerked around. Another flash and something came into view. Something that was attacking Anna.

Mermaids. Three of them.

Ryn let out a screech that could have raised the dead and sprinted to the edge of the boat. Even before Maddie or Ben could shout 'No!' she dove in.

Maddie ran to the edge of the boat and shouted down at the turbulent waters. "Ryn!"

"Maddie!" Ben called out. He had needed to concentrate on the boat's reaction to the sudden lose in weight, they were pitching in the sea far more than their small vessel could handle. He hurriedly got to the helm and moved the boat a bit, trying to stabilize their vessel in the waters. The waters around them churned in a powerful rip tide. The ocean swell was rising and it was getting far too precarious for their tiny vessel. Ben steadied the boat and called over his shoulder to Maddie. "Can you see her?"

"No!" came Maddie's shout. She quickly came over to the helm, grabbing the laptop and leveling it upwards so that it was eye level as she stood. Ben had to concentrate on steering so he could not see but Maddie narrated as best she could. The camera jerked around, but now a dark material that seem to vaporize upwards was staining the water. Someone was bleeding.

Maddie was horrified. "Oh God, no." She placed a hand over her open mouth. Every fiber in her being wanted to do something but she could only watch what was unfolding, leagues and leagues under the sea.

"Maddie!" Ben's voice distracted her. "We have to start moving inward." He was right, the boat was pitching far more than was safe. The late evening rip tide was powerful and they were in danger of capsizing.

"What about Ryn? What about Anna?"

"We'll have to meet them on shore!"

…

Never before had Ben pulled the research vessel up and docked it as quickly as he did when they finally arrived. Maddie continued to cradle the laptop but the screen had long since gone blank. The last image had been a fourth mermaid showing up, zooming around, and then nothing. The image was too distorted to make out any details. Was that Ryn? Had she managed to save Anna?

Ben grabbed the science pad that held the GPS coordinates for Anna's camera location. It was not much, but it gave them a sense of where she was at. Right now, the blinking red dot was traveling fast. Towards the shore.

"She's heading for shore; Ryn is bound to be with her. She wouldn't abandon her now," Ben said emphatically as they leaped off the boat.

Maddie nodded and grabbed a bag while they left. In preparation for their journey, they had wisely prepared a 'mermaid-recovery' kit and placed it in a large zippered tote. Blankets, towels, extra clothes, a thermos bottle of sea water, and above all—first aid.

The two humans plunged into the seashore foliage, following the beeping tracking device on Ben's tablet. The sun was setting so there was not much light left but they knew the tracking device had surface, and rushed inland even further. Ben and Maddie picked up speed, their hearts pounding in worry over Anna and Ryn.

It was Maddie who found her. Scanning the forest floor she saw the flash of white in the undergrowth. "Ben, over here!" she shouted, shifting directions off the game trail they were on.

Lying on the muddy forest floor, a naked woman was curled up in the fetal position. Ryn shook as if she was cold but it was not the reason. She was hurt, badly.

"Ryn!" Both her mates quickly knelt next to her. She appeared to be nearly unconscious. She barely slit her eyelids open to see her mates. Only her eyes moved to take in Ben and Maddie.

Her right shoulder was slashed open, and there were other various lacerations on her sides. Her disheveled hair covered a bit of her face but the strings of blood across her cheeks were still visible. Ben and Maddie's heart ached at the sight of what had been done to her.

Maddie reached down and gently stroked Ryn's cheek. "Hang on Ryn, we're here. We're going to help you."

Ben zipped open the bag, yanked out a thick beach towel, and then reached for the first-aid bag. While he opened it, Maddie had taken the towel and wrapped it around Ryn as best she could. The mermaid was still shivering uncontrollably. Maddie helped Ryn sit up and then wrapped her own arms around her, giving her body warmth as best she could.

Ben taped up Ryn's shoulder wound as best he could. He applied gauze and then some topical antibiotic. It was not much but it would hold her until they could get her some proper treatment. It appeared to be too much effort for Ryn to turn her head to see what he was doing. Instead, only her eyes turned to look at his face and then at Maddie's

Maddie continued to stroke Ryn's cheek and forehead, murmuring a soft comforting undertone. The warm closeness of her mate's body and her soothing sounds penetrated the mermaid's agitated brain and quieted her. She no longer shook fitfully, but she did bury her head into Maddie's shoulders. The woman could feel the mermaid quivering against her and it almost broke her heart.

"Ryn, what happened?" she had to ask. Why was Ryn carrying the tracking device and not Anna? Both Ben and Maddie had seen the scratched-up camera a few feet away from where Ryn had lain but didn't bother to pick it up just yet.

Ryn squeezed her eyes shut as a stitch of pain wracked her body. She felt the reassurance of her mates' presence and managed to speak up. "I find Anna. She was hurt. They hurt her," she managed to say. She lifted her head to look up at Maddie. "They want to kill Anna, I not let them. Then they hurt me." She winced as Ben started bandaging her other wounds. "I tell Anna 'Go!' and we leave but then—"she was wracked with a hard shiver—" they come, hurt more. Anna push me away and give me that—"she nodded weakly towards the camera "—I grab at Anna but then water pull me away." She hung her head. "I lose Anna. Then they use…they use song on me." She winced hard and clutched her head. "Hurt. Bad. In my head."

"The song?" Ben asked as he was working on her torn side. "The…siren song?"

"No. No song for love. Song for pain, for hurt," she said through gritted teeth from a stitch of pain.

Ben and Maddie cast a meaningful look at each other. It had been clear from Ryn's earlier explanations that territoriality and defending it was a vital part of the mer's lives. That was not surprising, many marine wildlife practiced a similar lifestyle. However, they had not thought about how the mermaids might defend that territory against any invaders, invaders like Anna.

Now apparently they had their answer. The siren song.

Ben wiped a hand across his face in exasperation. "We need to find Anna, she may need help."

Ryn took a deep breath and nodded. Without being asked, she started to put weight on her feet. Maddie helped her stand up.

Once the two women were up Ben scooped up their bag of supplies. Bending over he saw the camera and GPS device on the forest floor; they had almost forgotten it. He reached down and quickly retrieved it, stowing it carefully in the bag. They could not lose this. This was the proof they needed to show that the military was trespassing in waters and was spreading a GMO in the waters. They would need to figure out how to get their message out, neither he nor Maddie knew any reporters, but they would deal with that later.

Right now, Ryn was hurt and Anna was missing.

…

The young mermaid woke up but she did not know where she was.

It was night now, but her mermaid senses were far keener than any teenage human was. Her eyes focused in the dark and slowly the conscious realization of her plight seeped back into her and, shivering with fear and pain, she started to move.

She couldn't move much; she was in such pain. Slowly uncurling herself, she looked around. She was on a beach somewhere, not very far from the shoreline. Her small naked body was caked with dirt and her hair was plastered to her head in a tangle of pine needles, twigs and mud. She was in her human form but did not remember getting there, she must have passed out with the pain of the change; her lovely tail was being dissolved into the gentle wash of the evening tide. Hearing the lapping of the water made her remember what had happened and she shuddered harder. Ryn had saved her. Push her away from the song. She started to shake and she couldn't stop. Where was Ryn?

She started to rise but then collapsed with a hiss of pain. Glancing down at her body, she saw she had a number of injuries, including torn muscles in her legs, deep claw-marks on her back, and a serious abdomen wound that needed attention. She didn't think she would make it so why bother getting to her feet. All she wanted to do was rest.

A sound made her startle out of her stupor. Her head jerked upward in recognition. A few days ago, she would have been terrified at that noise but now, it meant a friend.

It was a dog barking.

Anna tried to call out but a wave of pain radiating from her side made it too difficult, she only managed a small cry. It was enough. Out of the forest foliage surrounding the beach, a blur of gold came forth.

This time, the mermaid allowed the dog to lick her face.

Honey the golden retriever was beside herself with joy. Her fish friend had been taken from her, but she had been determined to find her again. Like any good service dog, Honey's sense of compassion was overwhelming and to provide comfort and love to those in need was her purpose, her fulfillment. The human girl in the wheelchair liked Honey, but the dog could sense that she did not need Honey's comforting services as much as the older, bigger humans thought she did. The girl was her own self, and she was aware of that, this the dog knew so she allowed her to move outside her care and grow on her own. She didn't need her. This girl however, the one that smelled of fish and the briny sea, DID need her help. She couldn't walk, she could hardly talk, she was hurt, and she needed Honey's help.

Honey gently washed some of the blood off the face of a half-conscious Anna. Then she stepped closer and stretched her body across her legs, placing her furry head against Anna's chest. The girl was not wearing any of the usual human layers and had no way of keeping the cold away from her unfurred body. The dog felt her warmth going into the mermaid's body. While only partially responsive, Anna was aware enough to be grateful and leaned into the animal.

Now that she was warmer and no longer alone, Anna's thoughts became clearer. She needed to find Ryn and her mates. But she was hurt and weak, she could not go very far.

Through her preternatural sense of empathy, Honey knew that the mermaid wanted something. She whined, asking in her own language how she could help. What she could do.

Like a bolt of lightning, a flash of comprehension came to Anna. The animal could find them! She could go get them and then bring them to her.

She pushed the dog away, roughly. "Go!" she ordered clearly.

Honey whined and tried to wiggle herself underneath one of Anna's arm again. The mermaid would have none of it.

"GO," she hissed and roughly shoved the dog away. "Find Ryn! Find humans!"

Honey cocked her head. There was something the girl wanted from her, but she wasn't sure what.

"Find Ryn," Anna could feel her vision starting to blur and her head swimming. Now that the surge of excitement from seeing her furry friend was over her strength was flagging again. She was enduring increasingly serious waves of pain from the wound on her side. Only her strong determination was keeping her conscious.

"Help. Ryn will help."

Honey's furry ears perked up. Help! She knew that word. It was an essential part of her service dog training.

"Find Ryn…" Anna started to drop to the ground a little. All she wanted was to curl up and sleep, she barely whispered her commands to the dog now, "…find…help." She curled into herself, wedging into the mud even more.

The dog whipped around, plunged into the undergrowth, and barked up a storm.

…

"Anna! Anna where are you?"

Ben called out again and again but no response. He hiked along the beach, miles and miles it seemed, but still no sign of the young mermaid.

Running his hands through his hair, he let out a frustrated groan. Ryn was not going to like this. Both he and Maddie had insisted that Ryn get treatment before anything else. The marine facility was too far away, as was Ben's house so they brought Ryn to a small Pownell Fisheries warehouse. He didn't know how long Maddie was going to take to heal Ryn, but Ben knew that the mermaid hated the idea of leaving the beach because it meant leaving Anna. It was Sunday night and that meant the warehouse was closed, but Ben still worried that a night employee might come in and happen upon the three of them. He couldn't really think of a plausible story about why they were there so late and what had happened to Ryn.

They'd had to stop somewhere. Ryn was too heavy to carry far and if they traveled far someone might have seen them and started asking questions. The small warehouse was the first place they could find that Ben thought would be somewhat safe for the time being. Lucky he had a key.

As soon as they'd gotten Ryn inside Ben left to go look for Anna. Ryn was eager to find her young charge but even she knew that it would be better if Ben looked; she was injured and needed to rest and heal.

Ben adjusted his torch to the shoreline again. The water seemed pitch black now. Had Anna not gotten to shore? Maybe she was still in the water?

A dog barking caused him to look inland again and that's when he saw it. A mermaid's tail.

It was a pathetic-looking specimen, already more than half dissolved from the night tide. It was thinner and longer than anyone he had seen before which made him think it was Anna's. He reached down to feel it before remembering what his touch would do and yanked away; too late, it was completely gone now. Melted away. Studying the sand, he could make out a few scuffmarks, bare feet prints, and even a dog's paw prints. What had happened here?

He straightened up and scanned the forest foliage for signs. "Anna!" he yelled out again.

He followed a trail and found more signs of her. A few splatters of blood, more footprints, and then—something different. He knelt down and focused the light on the impression of a small boot in the mud, next to the bare footprint that could only be Anna's.

Someone was with Anna. Someone had found her on the beach and had taken her inland. But where?

He followed the trail before it came to a stop in a neighborhood cul-de-sac. Glancing around, his eyes took in the impossible situation. Anna could have been taken into anyone of these houses. Or maybe she wasn't there at all; maybe she had been taken to a hospital, or maybe back to the jail. A thousand possibilities raced through his head, each one direr than the next.

…


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

After lunch, Allison slipped into her room, cradling a plate of salmon slices and raw scallops she had swiped from the family freezer.

The mermaid was right where she had left her, sitting cross-legged and propped up with a pillow against Allison's headboard. Food and some fresh bandages had refreshed her and her intense blue eyes raptly followed the other girl's movements. The dog also glanced up at her, but did not move from its position on the mermaid's lap.

Allison held out the food. "Here you go Anna."

The mermaid took the plate gently, and then slurped up some scallops with her hands. A second later, the salmon disappeared.

Allison watched, slightly amazed. She recalled the first time she had handed a plate of food to Anna, that afternoon in the back alley of the restaurant where she worked at. It would never have occurred to her in a million years that she was helping a mermaid but now, looking at those huge blue eyes, how she ate like an animal, honestly how could she not at least have guessed it?

Anna licked at the empty plate then held out a scallop she had saved to the dog in her lap. Honey sniffed at the foodstuff but did not partake; she was used to the biscuit-like consistency and flavor of her dog food. Fish was something for cats, not dogs, so it was beneath her. Besides, she wasn't that hungry.

"Oh I don't think—" Allison was not sure how to say it. How does one explain dog food to a mermaid? "Dogs don't really like fish."

Anna looked up at Allison with frank curiosity. "Dog?"

"Yes, a dog," Allison gestured to Honey. "That's a dog."

"Dog," Anna repeated the word with the attentiveness of a child learning how to speak. "Dog." She leaned over and stroked Honey's forehead with her own, making soft crooning noises.

Allison watched, still slightly fascinated. A mermaid. Anna was a _freakin'_ mermaid! How was that even possible? It was like something out of a storybook or a fairy tale. The teen was still having a hard time processing all of this; especially since she still held an image of Ariel from the Disney movie in her mind whenever she thought about the term. Anna was far from anything of what Allison expected out of a mermaid. Her small lean body, flat wiry muscles, long legs already made her seem different. But it wasn't just how she looked; Anna radiated a wild, untamed spirit. She hissed and snarled and looked right at you as if she were staring into your soul. And she was strong, very strong. Allison still remembered how she had broken that jock's arm and fought off three burly police officers. Even when she was sick and injured.

That reminded Allison, how was it that mermaids' made such a quick recovery? She had seemed more dead than alive when Allison had found her last night. That made her think of something else. How the hell did she find her after all? It was not as if she went for a night walk very often, never actually. She had been working on her laptop all day, trying to find the right words for her article that officially announced to the world that mermaids were real, but then something had urged her to stop. To go for a walk and clear her head. So she did; and that is when the dog had found her.

The golden retriever had bound right up to her, barking and darting back and forth. Like she wanted Allison to follow. At first, the teenager had tried to coax the dog to her, maybe see what name and phone number was on her identification tags, but Honey would not have it. Leaping forward, she gently grabbed the end of Allison's jacket and pulled. At first, the teen had been a little frightened but once she realized the dog was leading her somewhere she complied. Then she found Anna.

Sneaking her back home was no easy task. Explaining to her mom about her injured friend was even harder. Knowing that she would not be believed with the truth, not until she got proof, she settled on a simple enough lie. Anna had been swimming at night and got attacked by a shark. She could not go to the hospital because she came into this country illegally and she needed to get back to her family. Allison could not have known how close she was to the actual truth.

Sergeant Riley had raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing a word her daughter said, but utilized her nurse training to treat Anna. The mermaid had been half-conscious through most of it but aware enough of things. Allison then brought the girl to her room and there she had lain for the rest of the night. In the morning, she had been world's better.

Allison stood up, looking down at Anna. "I've got to go talk to my mom, um—my…mother". Anna was not familiar with the slang version so Allison used the more archaic term.

"Mother." Anna glanced at the bedroom door. Her expression was softer than normal. "Your mother look like my mother." She looked sorrowful. "When Anna young, mother died. Many died." She reached over and rubbed her shoulder; it was healed, no longer swollen, infected, or oozed pus. It was no longer painful but the memory of her sick mother was painful.

"I'm…I'm so sorry Anna," Allison didn't know what else to say.

Anna shuddered. "The humans, put bad things in water. They hurt my family. Ryn says stop them."

Allisson felt a little uncomfortable. She had not told Anna that her mom was military, was likely working for the very people who had ordered the GMO into the water. She didn't even know how to explain it to the mermaid with her limited English. She had noticed that this 'Ryn' was brought up a lot; she was obviously a friend but from where?

"Don't worry Anna," Allison leaned forward, "I'm going to tell people about what is happening in the water, tell them your family is being hurt. Then they will be stopped."

Anna jerked up. "No!" she hissed out. She straightened up, moving so fast her side throbbed with pain but she clenched her teeth and took it. The dog that was on her lap was startled, as was Allison.

Anna looked right into Allison's eyes. "No tell! Bad! Very bad. Ryn say this bad!"

"But—, "Allison glanced at her laptop, where her top-notched article was still saved. "Anna your people are—amazing! Others will want to know. Maybe they can even help your people."

The mermaid stood up, shoving the dog off her lap as she went. She glared at Allison. "Allison no tell! If more know, more come, hurt my family." She yanked her borrowed shirt collar down, showing the lesion scars on her shoulder. "Do this!"

Allison was dumbstruck. She now saw what had been underneath Anna's shoulder bandage. And it looked awful.

"Humans hunt us! Bad humans put things in water, make my family sick. Hunt us! Bad if they come. Bad if the know!"

Honey the dog whined and bumped her furry head into Anna's hand, trying to relay calm. The mermaid hissed, shoved the dog's head away, pacing a little, clearly not comforted.

She continued to pace like a caged animal while Allison watched. It had not occurred to her that if she wrote about the mermaids, they would be worse off. She had not thought about the bigger implications but now she did. What did people do when they discovered a new rare and beautiful species? They stuck it in cages, analyzed the hell out of it, then killed it and stuffed, displaying it into a museum for others to gawk at.

 _Is that what mom's unit is doing? Driving them out so they could hunt them?_ She was heartbroken to think that her family was akin to this. Helping Anna and solving her problem had seemed simple at first: write an article about the mermaids, report that the waters were being polluted with the proof that she had collected, and then the military would be forced to stop. _But what if it would make it worse?_

She looked at Anna. Allison was a reported for her high school newspaper. Any other reporter would have killed to get such a story. But all she could see now was that her friend was upset and did not want any part of this.

"Okay."

Anna turned and glared at her. "Okay?"

"Okay, I will not tell anyone," she nodded firmly. "I promise."

"Promise?" Anna's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What is 'promise'?"

"Um—," Allison thought hard. "It means that when I say I will do something it is true. Or when I say I will _not_ do something, that is also true. No matter what. That is a promise." She stepped forward and took her friend's hand. "I will not tell anyone about you and your family. I promise."

"Promise," Anna seemed to be mulling the word over in her head. "Promise is hard."

"Yes," Allison nodded in agreement, "Yes, it can be hard."

Anna was not looking at her; she looked at the dog and then at the open window. "Promise. I promise my family I will help, come home then help." Her eyes were distant. "Mother…she promise come back."

"I'll get you home Anna, I promise."

The mermaid glanced back at the human girl. Her expression was still hard but she did not look angry anymore.

Allison smiled and shifted a little uneasily. The way that the mermaid looked at her, those huge piercing blue eyes, always unflinching…well it was a little unsettling. And intense. Trying to find an excuse to look away, she glanced at her bedroom door. "I'm uh; I'm going to tell my mom we're leaving. Okay?"

"Okay, yes."

Allison exited and Anna explored the room a little. Her side wound was recovering nicely; now that her mermaid body was no longer dealing with the lobomycosis infection her healing ability was back to its full function. She scratched a little at the claw marks on her back; they itched but they had already closed themselves up.

Honey followed her around the room but when she saw her charge was not upset anymore she settle down comfortably on the floor to take a nap. Such was her service dog training.

Anna picked up a framed photograph from a bedside table and gazed at the image of Allison with her mother and sisters. Smiling, happy faces gazed back. The mermaid fingered the photograph, especially the figure of the older woman with her arms around her daughters. Allison's mother.

Her thoughts turned inward again. Mother. Anna whimpered a little and squeezed the frame tighter. Anna's mother had died when she was young; the mermaid remembered everything about her. Her face, her touch, her scent, her strong tail…but none of that had mattered. In the end, the illness that ravaged Anna's body just a few days ago had taken her mother. Her mother was strong but the illness made her go away.

Anna sat down hard on Allison's bed, still clutching the photograph. Honey came over and placed her head onto the mermaid's lap, offering comfort. The girl stroked the dogs head absent-mindedly and the touch brought her comfort. Last night, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she saw Allison's mother. She was out of her mind with pain and only half-conscious but she did recall the feel of human hands working to heal her. Then, she saw the woman who was leaning over her.

Impetuously, with the uninhabited reactions of a person in delirium, she had reached out and stroked Sergeant Amanda Riley's cheek.

"Mother…," she whimpered a little. "Why you leave?"

Sergeant Riley had been taken back by the intimacy of the touch but did allow the teenager to stroke her cheek.

What a strange girl, the woman had thought. Rather intense in a way. Her face is so thin and that makes her eyes look so big. She could see that the teen was desperately skinny and the fact that she was wearing only her daughter's high school hoodie and nothing else did not escape her notice. Why was she naked? And why isn't she getting enough to eat? Her mind concluded what the situation must be based on the sorrow of many girls in this world. Poor kid, she must be in a child prostitution ring where she is abused. It was not unheard of. Anna was pretty, young, and petite. Those marks on her back might have been from a device that devious creatures used to inflect pain on young girls. Riley put a hand over the girl's hand on her own cheek, her dark skin gently overlapping the girl's pale small hand.

"Anna," she said. "Is there anyone I can call for you? Your family?"

The girl dropped her hand as she settled back into the chair. "No—not hear you from here," Anna mumbled groggily.

The concerned woman was taken back by this statement and was about to inquire further when her own daughter stopped her. "Mom it's late and Anna needs to rest," she helped the girl up off the kitchen chair. "Can't it wait until morning?"

The girl did indeed look exhausted and the warm heart of the army nurse went out to her. "Alright, Anna can stay the night." The woman who had helped patch up soldiers on the battlefield and now helped counseled vets at the VA could do not less for the wretched skinny teenager that had obviously been beaten by her john.

It was that sense of compassion that had led her to her current decision and her daughter did not like it.

"Mom!" Allison shouted. "You should not have called them!"

Sergeant Riley was not fazed by her teenager's shouts. "Allie, she needs help. Child Protective Services can help her." She barely looked up from the dishes she was washing. "I can tell she's in a bad situation. She is probably servicing a prostitute ring and someone beat her into submission. She looks like she comes from an abusive, neglectful situation and no—" she interrupted her daughter when Allison opened her mouth again,"—you don't have to lie anymore. I know you were lying last night about where she comes from." She put the plate down and looked at her daughter, her expression softer. "I know you are trying to protect your friend but this is not the way to do it Allison. I can get her help; we can get her out of that place."

Allison groaned. There was no way she could tell her mom the truth; she would not be believed and besides, she had promised Anna she wouldn't. If her mom called CPS, then she needed to get Anna out of here. And fast.

"Alright fine, but—let me tell her okay?" Allison pleaded. "Let me explain it to her? I don't want her to be scared when they arrive."

Amanda Riley was about to deliver a hearty 'no' when she saw the genuine look of concern on her daughter's face. "Alright, you go talk to her. I'll be up in a minute to help explain. Girls in her situation sometimes feel like no one can help them, that they have to keep running. If she tries to bolt, call me and I will come."

Allison turned and was about to race upstairs to warn Anna when she remembered something. She turned back to the kitchen and took something out of her pocket. "Mom, when you get the chance, can you look into this?"

She held out the vial that Anna had brought with her to shore.

The army nurse recognized it and was instantly alert. The casing was empty but she knew what such things were used for when full. "Where on earth did you get this?" she took it away.

"Anna found it when she was…when she was…," Allison couldn't come up with a lie quick enough. She was very bad at it.

"When she was running away, you don't have to tell me," her mother answered for her.

Allison was relieved that she came up with her own plausible explanation. "Yes! Could you investigate please?"

"Of course."

Allison nodded gratefully then raced away.

Sergeant Riley looked hard at the casing. She knew what it was for and the label could tell her daughter what it had carried at one point. But Allison was not thinking of the source pollution that was causing lobomycosis in the various sea life, including mermaids. She ran upstairs, intent on getting Anna out. Fast.

…

That afternoon, Ryn concluded that the only way to find Anna was to do something drastic. Something she had not done since that terrible night her sister had died and she had sent the other mermaids away.

"Ryn, are you sure about this?"

Ben was worried. So was Maddie. They both remembered that night.

Ryn nodded emphatically. "Yes. I call, she comes."

The mermaid strode purposely in the street, her human mates at her heels. Thanks to her rapid healing ability, she was just about recovered from the attack on her underwater. Ben was still amazed.

Last night, when he had come back to the warehouse empty handed he felt for sure Ryn would be very upset that he had not found Anna. She would blame him and, honestly, he deserved it. He should have looked harder, he should have searched further, maybe started knocking on doors in that neighborhood.

Surprisingly, she was a lot calmer about losing Anna than Ben and Maddie.

"Anna strong. She make it to surface, she know how to take care of herself."

The humans exchanged worried glances. Maddie spoke up. "Ryn the last time she was alone on the surface she broke a boy's arm and got arrested." She was apprehensive. "People might be looking for her."

"Anna learn. Know more about humans now. Know to come back."

Ben wasn't sure but then Ryn hissed with pain. He came over quickly and noted the bandages that Maddie had managed to place on the mermaid's side and arm. "Ryn, what about you?"

"I will live." Her face softened at the sight of his concern. "No afraid Ben."

She leaned forward and placed her forehead into this chest. Ben looked down and saw the peaceful, trusting face of Ryn resting on his chest. He felt a deep sense of love for her; he loved her strength, her courage, everything. Maddie came over and leaned in so that the three of them were in a comforting embrace. Ryn felt the other female's presence and welcomed it; she felt secure with her mates. Exhausted from the events of the evening Ben could see that Ryn was falling asleep in their arms. Her face was calm and happy.

Now, her face scrunched in worry. Despite her assurances to her mates, Anna had not shown up at the marine research facility. She wasn't at the house boat either. When the sun started to dip below the horizon, she decided they had waited long enough and was going to send out a call, a siren call. There was no risk of humans hearing the sound; it was far too high-pitched for their spectrum of hearing. But it was still dangerous; if there were other mermaids in the area they might here and come looking for Ryn. They might be allies but they might also be enemies.

The mermaid was willing to risk it.

She stood solidly in the street, her features illuminated by the bright street lamp directly above her. Ben and Maddie waited in the car; Ryn had insisted on it, for their own safety should any hostile mermaids show up. She glanced over one last time, making sure her mates were safe and then she opened her mouth and called.

Her voice vibrated. Pulsed. Reached distances that humans could not even fathom.

And it came to one pair of ears in particular.

Two teen girls were walking down the street, avoiding the well-lit ones because Allison reasoned that her mom had probably called the cops on them. Sneaking out of the house was a new experience for the human teen. She had never had cause to sneak out before; her mom trusted her and let her have pretty much a free range. Now, she had had to rely on some wits that were new to her. Dressing Anna up in some of her clothes and getting the mermaid to leave through the bedroom window had been surprisingly easy. Even the dog leapt out after Anna coaxed her to follow. Now the three of them were heading to the shore. It was a long walk and had taken them most of the day. Anna had explained to Allison as best she could that she would get sick if away from seawater for a long time. Allison was not good at navigating the town of Bristol Cove without her phone; she had wisely left it behind because she knew it could be tracked, but Anna knew where the ocean was and they walked towards it. Or rather they were walking, until Anna swung her head sideways and started to look around.

"What is it?" Allison asked.

The mermaid did not answer; she was jerking her head from side to side. As if trying to hone in on something. Allison noticed that the dog was reacting to something too; she whined and pawed at her muzzle. She snorted and shook herself hard. As if trying to shake off something irritating.

Anna suddenly whipped around and started running in another direction.

"Anna wait!"

The two girls pelted down an alley, the dog right at their heels. Anna started to run faster than she ever had in her entire life.

Ryn still stood in the street light; she glanced in the direction where Ben and Maddie were still in the car and shook her head. Nothing. Ben sighed, and opened his door while Maddie did the same. They gathered next to Ryn, intent on giving comfort.

"You did all you could Ryn," Maddie reached out and stroked the mermaids arm.

"Maddie is love, Ben is love," Ryn's eyes were distant. "Anna…different family, but still love." The three of them leaned into each other, offering support as only loved one could do.

Suddenly her head whipped up and her eyes took on a hard look. Ben and Maddie glanced up at the sight of a strange apparition pelting through a dark alley and coming towards them quickly.

"What is it?" Ben asked.

Ryn stared hard a moment, on guard against any enemies then her eyes widened.

"It Anna," Ryn said and walked forward quickly; forgetting her mates, forgetting her dignity, and forgetting every custom against showing emotions to young ones of strange pods. She threw her arms around the girl and hugged her hard.

The two females melted into the embrace. Anna shoved her head into Ryn's neck and snuggled.

Ben and Maddie stayed at a respectful distance; they knew this was a special moment between the two mermaids and would not have interrupted it for anything.

A golden retriever with a service dog collar came running up. The two humans were surprised to see that the dog started leaping up and down, barking and licking the mermaids' hands. Jumping around and celebrating.

As if the sight of the dog was unusual, they were even more surprised to see a teenage girl running out of the dark alley that Anna had just pelted from. She stopped short of the embracing mermaids, heaving and panting.

"Anna!" she managed to get out. "Wh…what's going on?"

Anna stepped out of the embrace and turned to her human friend. "This Ryn," she laid a palm on Ryn's chest.

The teenager walked boldly forward into the street light. "Nice to meet you Ryn," Allison stuck out a hand but the mermaid just stared at it. Ryn was stern and not opened to advances the way Anna's was. She was an older alpha mermaid after all.

"This Allissssson," Anna said the name slowly and carefully so that Ryn could understand. "Good human. Like Ryn's mates."

Ben and Maddie came forward. The teenager's eyes widen and then something like recognition came to her face. "I remember you two. I saw you that night when Anna and I got arrested." She looked at the younger mermaid and then back at them. "You're friends of Anna's right?" She did a faint expression on her face and the smallest of nods in Ryn's direction. _Is she one too?_ she asked with her eyes.

Ben nodded firmly, as did Maddie.

Allison's dark eyes widened inhumanely. "Wow!" It seemed like meeting a second mermaid was even more unusual than the realization that her friend Anna was one. She stared openly at Ryn.

"And who is this?" Maddie knelt down and held out a hand to the golden retriever that had shown up. The dog did a quick sniff of her hand, learned that Maddie was a kind, good person, and immediately bent her head for a scratch on her ears. The human complied.

"Dog," Anna answered, "She is friend." Maddie and Honey began to get acquainted. Maddie had always had a soft spot for dogs but her round-the-clock work at the marine facility prevented any adoptions from occurring.

"Anna, what happened in the water?" Ben had to ask. It had been worrying him but the more-urgent problem of finding Anna had distracted all of them. "Did you give the medicine out?"

The young mer suddenly looked slightly apprehensive, her eyes glancing up at Ryn. Ben's words had reminded her of something. She remembered what happened in the water, the way those mer slashed and bit into her as she passed into territory that was not her own. And Ryn—the alpha female showing up and defending her. Defending her from members of her own pod. It was unheard of. Members of the same pod band together to attack intruders, not the other way around. And yet, Ryn had defended her. Anna accepted the fact that once she went back in the water, she would not get any help from Ryn. The very idea negated mermaid survival. Yet after she had delivered the medicine and swum out to find the source of the sickness, unknowingly entering into enemy territory, Ryn had come. At first, Anna had been terrified. She was sure the alpha had shown up to finish the job the warriors of her pod were unable to fulfill. And then—Ryn had attacked her own pod members.

All of these thoughts, and more, was in Anna's expression as she turned to Ryn again. She brought her right hand up to her heart, putting it into a fist, then extending it from her heart towards Ryn; she bowed her head. It was the closest gesture her people had for "thank you". Mermaids understood gratitude, but that usually carried a sense of obligation. Helping members of the pod was their way of life, necessary for their survival, and no thanks was expected. Instead of relying on human words that carried less weight this was Anna's way not of returning an obligation, but showing her gratitude. Her genuine gratitude.

Ryn leaned forward and placed her forehead on top of Anna's. Then the younger one shifted so that her throat pressed lightly against Ryn's. Showing trust. The two mermaids stood there a moment as the humans watched.

"Wow," Allison whispered. She edged over to Maddie. She seemed more at ease with her than with Ben, likely because they were both girls. "Is she—do they do that…um, often?" It was such an intimate touch; it almost made her uncomfortable to watch.

Maddie smiled, remembering that night in the Siren Song motel when Ryn had shown her trust in Maddie by exposing her throat and leaning in for a touch. It had been a bit of a shock then but now, after hanging out with a mermaid for months now and accepting the fact that they were in a relationship, it was as natural as a hug or a kiss.

"They're just showing trust," she whispered to the teen. She almost chuckled at the expression on the kid's face.

The moment of peace was interrupted by a crash in an alleyway, the very alleyway the two girls and the dog had come from. Someone or something had upended a trashcan and it came rolling into view, illuminated by the street lamp.

The two mermaids were instantly on alert. Ryn stepped forward and let out a roar that startled even Ben and Maddie. She was roaring to the intruder, daring it with her voice. Anna stepped protectively in front of Allison; the girl reached over and gripped Maddie's hand tightly.

"What's going on?"

Maddie wished she could answer.

Ryn stalked forward, towards a dark figure in the alley. She opened her mouth and snarled. By now the gentle golden retriever, who never so much as flinched at the touch of a person, was growling. She stalked forward and stood by Ryn, as if to offer herself as an ally against the night terror. The mermaid did not acknowledge her; the dog hadn't expected her to. The two of them took a defensive stance side by side.

Out of the shadows of the space between the two buildings, a woman emerged. She was tall, thin, dark, and her long black hair cascaded down her back in clumps. Her feet and legs were bare; she only had on a baggy long sweatshirt and nothing else. Her eyes were savage and she opened her mouth and snarled right back at Ryn.

A mermaid then, and not an ally.

Allison felt Maddie's had tighten on her and felt the man try to ease her behind them both. She complied, because she was too terrified to do anything else. Never in a million years would she figure on a mermaid being so scary-looking. The mermaids were hissing, the dog was now barking, and everything was happening so fast. Her heart pounded so much she felt it in her inner ear.

"What do we do?"

Neither Ben nor Maddie answered. They just prepared for the worst.

…

 _ **Now that I have more time on my hands, these chapters are just popping out!**_

 _ **Probably finish the story this week…then maybe a new one after! In a different realm though; I've decided to leave 'Siren' for now.**_


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